COVID-19 vaccines should be available free of charge to anyone who wants to be vaccinated, the New Power Party (NPP) said yesterday, as lawmakers began negotiating details of relief fund packages proposed by the Executive Yuan.
The Cabinet has proposed an amendment to the Special Act for Prevention, Relief and Revitalization Measures for Severe Pneumonia with Novel Pathogens (嚴重特殊傳染性肺炎防治及紓困振興特別條例) that would enable the government to implement the act until June 30 next year, in view of the economic repercussions that Taiwan has experienced amid a COVID-19 outbreak.
It proposed raising the budget cap to NT$630 billion (US$22.64 billion).
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
The NPP said that while it supports the Executive Yuan’s proposals, it wants a significant percentage of the relief funds to purchase vaccines.
“We believe that people who want to be vaccinated should not have to pay for it,” NPP caucus whip Chiu Hsien-chih (邱顯智) said, but added that “police officers, healthcare professionals, and food and mail delivery personnel should be on a priority list.”
The government should accelerate procurement of vaccines, Chiu said, adding that the Food and Drug Administration has so far only issued licenses for the vaccines produced by AstraZeneca and Moderna.
Regarding approval of vaccines produced by Pfizer-BioNTech and other firms, the Ministry of Health and Welfare could help facilitate the process to get doses to people faster, he said.
“The ministry should diversify purchases of vaccines to avoid putting all of its eggs in one basket,” Chiu said, adding that it should have plans for how jabs are administered.
The relief funds should also be used to expand the nation’s capacity to conduct testing and to ensure that medical institutions operate with enough personnel, equipment and resources, and are supported by a national medical network, NPP Legislator Claire Wang (王婉諭) said.
Police officers, as well as paramedics and other healthcare professionals on the front lines should be given additional compensation for helping to contain the outbreak, Wang said.
The party hopes that the funds would help working parents who take disease prevention childcare leave to take care of school-age children, who now have to take classes online until June 14, Wang said.
Parents should be paid for such leave, which is unpaid at the moment, she said, adding that subsidies should be calculated based on average earnings per day.
NPP deputy caucus whip Chen Jiau-hua (陳椒華) said that funds should be allocated for employers who pledge not to lay off workers.
Workers in culinary and other service industries should receive money, as those businesses have been severely disrupted by the tightened disease prevention policy, Chen said.
The government should also facilitate financial assistance for artists by streamlining procedures, she said.
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