In the first two years of the global pandemic, China’s model of lockdowns, mass testing and algorithmically-driven quarantine provided an alternative path for controlling Covid that effectively restricted the virus’s spread. Yet last week’s protests across several Chinese cities have shown the limits of the model, as the economy weakens and anger at the government’s restrictive policies boils over.  A root problem in current policy making is that decisions are increasingly made with scant regard to reality on the ground. In particular, the government has ignored the importance of consumption to growth and especially employment, the limited capacity of local residential committees to impose Covid-related rules, and the great potential of global pharmaceutical companies to help China with their proven vaccines. Shifting policies — quickly — to take into account these realities may help the government weather this legitimacy crisis before it deepens beyond its control.