The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday confirmed that the Yonglin Foundation had submitted documents, including the substantial information required, to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for approval to import the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine.
Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center, on Monday said that the FDA and the Centers for Disease Control had received six requests from companies or groups expressing their intent to import COVID-19 vaccines, but that none had provided the required documentation.
The CECC on Friday last week released a set of requirements for those who intend to import COVID-19 vaccines.
Photo courtesy of Terry Gou’s office
They include having a commissioned pharmaceutical firm submit its execution plan, product instructions, quantity and calculation basis, cold storage logistics plans, delivery schedule, vaccine expiration date, dealership authorization from the vaccine manufacturer, and a free sale certificate or replacement documents.
Yonglin Foundation founder Terry Gou (郭台銘) wrote on Facebook on Saturday that the group would commission a registered pharmaceutical firm to submit an application to import vaccines along with the required documents.
The foundation would apply to import 5 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine that is manufactured and packaged in Germany, as the law prohibits groups from importing vaccines made in China, said Gou, the founder of Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密).
Photo copied by Yao Yueh-hung, Taipei Times
Delia Tseng (曾馨瑩), Gou’s wife, handed the foundation’s application in person to FDA Director-General Wu Shou-mei (吳秀梅).
Chen said the CECC had expressed its gratitude to Gou, and the FDA had begun reviewing the foundation’s application, as it included the substantial information required.
The center would keep in touch with the foundation to ensure that the application proceeds smoothly, he said.
Meanwhile, Sun Yat-sen School president Chang Ya-chung (張亞中), who on Saturday said that friends in China had agreed to donate 5 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine and 5 million doses of vaccine made by Chinese state-owned company Sinopharm (國藥集團), yesterday said that he had submitted an application to import vaccines on Monday.
Deputy Minister of the Interior Chen Tsung-yen (陳宗彥), who is deputy head of the center, confirmed that Chang submitted an application, but that it only included a copy of an authorization letter from a “Beijing Cross-Strait Oriental Cultural Center” (北京兩岸東方文化中心) and none of the other required documentation.
In related news, Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) said that vaccination centers would eventually be set up in a variety of locations, including military bases, prisons, and technology and industrial parks.
Su made the remarks at a Cabinet meeting, Executive Yuan spokesman Lo Ping-cheng (羅秉成) said, adding that Su was briefed by Minister Without Portfolio Audrey Tang (唐鳳) about a vaccine reservation system being developed with the Ministry of Health and Welfare.
Once vaccines become available, they could be reserved online in a process similar to the mask reservation system set up last year, Lo quoted Tang as saying.
Reservations could be made using the National Health Insurance app, or at supermarkets and pharmacies, he added.
Additional reporting by Lee Hsin-fang
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