Taiwan’s domestically developed COVID-19 vaccines could start mass production in July, but only if they successfully complete ongoing clinical trials, Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) said yesterday.
Speaking to reporters before a legislative hearing in Taipei, Chen said that Taiwanese vaccines could hopefully enter production in July at the earliest.
Taiwan is making progress in its vaccine development, after Medigen Vaccine Biologics Corp (高端疫苗) and United Biomedical Inc (聯亞生技) were approved to enter the second phase of clinical trials in late December last year and January respectively.
Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times
Medigen in January said it planned to recruit at least 3,700 participants for trials, while working with 11 hospitals, on its vaccine, MVC-COV1901, which was developed with the US National Institutes of Health.
The company received NT$1.7 million (US$60,122) in government subsidies for its phase 1 trials and was to receive another NT$300 million for its phase 2 trials.
United Biomedical in late January said it would recruit 3,850 volunteers for phase 2 trials of its vaccine candidate, UB-612, a multitope protein/peptide-based vaccine.
Asked whether President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) and Chen would be among the first to receive the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, Chen said that if there is any public hesitancy, they would be willing to volunteer to demonstrate the safety of the vaccine to those concerned about side effects.
However, Chen said he hoped that the vaccination program would proceed in accordance with the government’s priority list.
The minister’s comments came after 117,000 doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, purchased directly from the company, arrived in Taiwan on Wednesday.
No new COVID-19 cases were reported yesterday.
To date, Taiwan has recorded 960 cases of COVID-19, 844 of which have been classified as imported. Of the total, 928 people have recovered, nine have died, and 23 are in hospital, according to CECC statistics.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique