How China took an unlikely lead in the global supply of Covid-19 vaccines

A banner with two flags is unfurled, a large box is lowered from a cargo hold, and cameras flash for a photo op as local politicians and a Chinese ambassador welcome a shipment of Covid-19 vaccines from China.

This moment has been repeated around the world – in the tiny South American country of Guyana receiving 20,000 doses for its nearly 800,000 people, in the Balkans’ Montenegro, Africa’s Zimbabwe, in Laos, Southeast Asia, and the list goes on.