Huizhong Wu, reporter, Taipei, Taiwan, and Sydney-based enterprise correspondent Kristen Gelineaucoordinated with AP colleagues around the world for a unique country-by-country tally to reveal that China has pledged roughly half a billion doses of its vaccines to more than 45 countries, with inoculations started in 25 and shots delivered to another 11.
Western vaccines, such as Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca, have received much of the attention for their headline-grabbing efficacy rates, but as Wu and Gelineau reported, a large part of the world’s population will end up inoculated instead with China’s humble, traditionally made shots — despite a dearth of public data on the vaccines and pervasive hesitations over their efficacy and safety.
With text, photo and video feeds from around the world, the AP pair crafted a wide-ranging, colorful story that looked at the implications of “vaccine diplomacy,” as China tries to transform itself from an object of mistrust over its initial mishandling of the COVID-19 outbreak to a savior.