Don't write off China's Covid-19 vaccines: World needs them as cases surge

While more than 848 million doses have been administered, countries with the highest incomes are getting vaccinated 25 times faster than those with the lowest

It’s been an awkward time for the head of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Gao Fu was cited over the weekend as telling a health conference that the agency was considering options to improve the efficacy of China’s shots against Covid-19, which was currently “not high.” His remarks, perhaps the first significant hint of official concern over the protection rate offered by homegrown vaccines, were censored. Gao hurriedly gave an interview dismissing the episode as a misunderstanding. But the harm was done — because he was right.

China’s vaccines do appear to shield less effectively than those