Already working with AstraZeneca on domestic development and delivery of a Covid-19 vaccine (page 24), Japan is teaming up with the UK, as well as Germany, France and the European Union, to create an alliance aimed at securing vaccine supplies. The Nikkei Asian Review reported on 11 August that the £15.5bn pool, called Covax, is meant to assist nations that cannot negotiate the same kinds of one-on-one deals with drugmakers as the United States and China. About 75 countries have expressed interest in joining. The alliance aims to procure 2bn doses of coronavirus vaccine by 2021.