US-China coronavirus vaccine diplomacy heats up but can donations sway allegiances?
- Washington is ramping up international contributions but competition may not ease shortages in all developing countries
- Poorer nations may receive vaccines from Beijing but not necessarily its influence, analysts say
Biden did not hide his intention: the US wanted to counter the influence of China and Russia by using the “arsenal of vaccines” to tackle the pandemic.
However, the amount was too small to have much impact compared with China’s export of over 668 million doses at the time – although only 2.4 per cent of those were donations.
As the US ramps up its vaccine diplomacy, China has increased its donations and accelerated a technology transfer in recent months, but analysts said the competition was unlikely to ease the shortage for most developing countries, or cause any geopolitical shift.
Commercial interest or public good?
China has long boasted that its commitment to supplying the jabs is a global public good. It is the largest vaccine supplier to the developing world. By October 4, it had sold 1.3 billion doses, according to the Bridge Consulting tracker of Chinese vaccine distribution. But the number of donations remains small in proportion to its sales: only an estimated 71.9 million doses were donated either bilaterally or to the Covax Facility, according to Bridge Consulting.
