New Power Party (NPP) Chairwoman Chen Jiau-hua (陳椒華) yesterday questioned the expertise of Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) members, after their decision on Sunday to allow a mix-and-match approach for COVID-19 vaccines, sparking a backlash on social media.
The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) on Sunday announced that the ACIP had approved the mixing of COVID-19 vaccines, with the first dose being the AstraZeneca vaccine and the second dose being an mRNA vaccine — the Moderna vaccine or the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.
It also announced that the ACIP approved the inclusion of Medigen Vaccine Biologics Corp’s COVID-19 vaccine in the national vaccination program.
Chen yesterday posted a list of the ACIP members’ names and their medical specializations on Facebook, and wrote: “The 17 ACIP members, who reviewed the Medigen vaccine and the mix-and-match approach, consist of 11 pediatricians, two obstetricians and gynecologists, two physicians of the infectious disease division and two physicians.”
“I am asking these members: Do you understand immunobridging? Do you understand the mix-and-match approach? Have you published any academic papers with the related expertise?” she wrote, urging them to reveal the studies they referred to when making the decisions.
The list of ACIP members showed that several members who Chen said were only “pediatricians” serve in pediatric infectious disease divisions at different hospitals.
Chen’s post caused a backlash, with many online comments questioning the legislator’s expertise instead.
Several people said that the Food and Drug Administration’s specialists review panel that issued Emergency Use Authorization for the Medigen vaccine, using the immunobridging approach, was not the same as the ACIP panel.
Many people said pediatricians have the most knowledge about vaccines and infectious diseases among physicians, as children receive many doses of vaccines from birth, adding that some of the ACIP members are also infectious disease specialists.
Former Legislator Lin Ching-yi (林靜儀), an obstetrician-gynecologist, yesterday posted a photograph on Facebook of the government-funded infant immunization schedule, and wrote: “Taiwan is one of the countries that offers the most government-funded vaccines.”
“The immunization schedule, the necessity, the effect on public health and the side effects [of the vaccines], and the latest immunity-related information have all been discussed and decided by pediatric and immunology experts,” she wrote. “Before questioning them, you should first thank them for saving many children from serious harm or death from infectious diseases.”
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