(lively music)
- [Narrator] China has been
on a global vaccine delivery drive
since the early days of the pandemic.
(people clapping)
And Beijing gave that effort a boost
amid growing concerns over Omicron,
a new coronarius variant
that seems far more transmissible than others.
(speaking in foreign language)
- [Narrator] The pledge came after China said
it shipped 1.8 billion vaccines to 120 countries.
- I'm very grateful of this huge donation to Africa.
- China was very interested
in using its vaccines to advance a number
of geopolitical goals.
- [Narrator] And the US has its own goals too.
- I think the US, based on its trials
is very confident in its vaccine.
They feel like it's important for them
to be in league donating.
- [Narrator] Less than a week
after Chinese president Xi Jinping's pledge,
President Biden also promised
to send nine million extra vaccines to Africa.
- I'm keeping the promise
that America will become the arsenal of vaccines.
- [Narrator] China got out ahead of the US
in shipping it doses around the world
but the Biden administration has said it's donated more.
And now Omicron could challenge
both superpowers' vaccine diplomacy efforts.
But first, how was China able to get a headstart?
As early as May of 2020,
Beijing declared that it would make its homegrown vaccines
a global public good.
And it was able to make that promise
because it started vaccinating its own population
with its doses a few months later.
Then by September,
China started shipping its vaccines abroad.
The US, on the other hand,
began sending doses nearly a year later.
China was faster because its vaccines were made
with traditional methods
and not with advanced genetic technology
like the first vaccines that were approved in the US.
This also meant Chinese doses
were easier to ship
since they didn't need to be stored
ultra-cold temperatures.
Plus, state enterprises jumped in to help
with the vaccine supply chain,
working with 19 countries to manufacture doses locally.
- Being the first is very important
because there's an element of stickiness.
So in some ways, it makes it more difficult
for the recipient countries
to buy vaccines from other countries afterwards.
- [Narrator] Bonny Lin is a senior fellow
at the Center for Strategic and International Studies,
a bipartisan forum policy think tank.
She's been tracking China's vaccine diplomacy
and found that of the 1.1 billion doses Beijing agreed
to ship, 96% were designated as sales
and the rest as donations.
China said its vaccines would be offered
at a fair and reasonable price,
and then says this direct-to-consumer relationship
gives Beijing leverage.
- One of the things that China does gain
is a bit more influence
over the recipient countries.
And China was able to use its vaccines
to encourage countries to issue statements
in support of China.
- [Narrator] For instance, Paraguay said it was approached
by unofficial Chinese brokers
who offered to purchase vaccines from China on its behalf
in return for breaking diplomatic ties with Taiwan.
It declined the offer and China said the incident
was malicious disinformation.
(people clapping)
Countries in the Indo-Pacific region
have also been receiving Chinese doses
and that's grabbed the attention of another vaccine donor.
- The United States has focused quite a bit
of our efforts in trying to provide vaccines
in that region in order to push back
against whatever influence China may have.
- [Narrator] And the US has been trying
to lead by donating its vaccines to poorer countries.
And a majority of them are from Pfizer and BioNTech,
and Moderna, which have high efficacy rates
against the original variant of the virus.
Compare that with China's vaccines.
A study by Bahrain and Columbia University
also found that the death rate for Sinopharm recipients
was three times higher than those inoculated with Pfizer.
Lin says the efficacy of Chinese vaccines
may have dented Beijing's efforts to gain influence.
- A number of countries are much more cautious now
about taking Chinese vaccines,
and there're increasing questions
of why does China need
to have such a stringent zero-tolerance,
and many suspect it's because of its lack
of confidence in its own vaccines.
- [Narrator] And now the emergence
of a new fast-spreading variant
has triggered a wave of fresh restrictions.
And Omicron is forcing leaders
to speed up vaccination drives around the world.
- Individuals I talk with in the administration
are really concerned.
Unless we get everyone vaccinated,
new variants will crop up.
I also think there's been a fair amount of pressure
on the administration to do more,
to help with donation and to help lead a lot
of the world efforts.
- [Narrator] In about a week
of Omicron being declared a variant
of concern by the WHO,
but the US and China made pledges to ship more vaccines.
- It's about what can be done collaboratively
to try and bring the pandemic to heel?
And I think just from what we've seen so far,
especially with this new variant,
that just becomes more urgent.
- [Narrator] But those efforts also rely
on how current vaccines respond to Omicron
and when boosters could be available to poorer countries.
A Hong Kong University study found two doses
of the Sinopharm vaccine do not produce enough antibodies
to fight against a new variant.
Meanwhile, Pfizer and BioNTech said
that initial lab tests showed
that two doses were significantly less efficacious
at blocking infection
but a third dose neutralized Omicron.
And Moderna said a third dose
of its vaccine increased immune responses
against the new variant.
So while both superpowers compete
to lead with vaccines,
it may ultimately come down to how effective the doses are
against new emerging variants.