I'd have to think this is the prep run
Now personally, if this was my genocide plan, the vaccine would be the cure and the virus would be the weapon.

I have mentioned before that it would make sense for a trial run to test and showcase that we have a technology, mRNA vaccines, to combat potentially any virus (if it worked), and in a timeframe eventually of only a few months, according to Bill Gates. While China took a different path, testing and showing they could beat the virus through invasive government control of their citizenry and the old fashioned style vaccine.

A fight seems to be coming with China. They want to be top dog. A biological attack makes sense tactically strategically, since it's the only kind of attack that wouldn't potentially lead to a nuclear exchange.

But it doesn't even need to be about genocide. How many designer covid flus can we send their way to disrupt their war machine, their economy, and their people. We could make them pay through the nose for the cure. And then do it again whenever we want.

That would explain the secrecy and the willingness to readily experiment on the world wide population. It would be a matter of national security.