Rigorous procedures for clinical testing and scientific evaluation are in place for the domestic COVID-19 vaccine developed by Medigen Vaccine Biologics Corp, and opposition parties should stop their disinformation and smear campaigns against it, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) said yesterday.
Ker is leading negotiations at an extraordinary session of the legislature this week as lawmakers look to approve a relief package to boost government spending on industries affected by the COVID-19 outbreak.
“Taiwan has seen a declining trend of new infections in recent days, but we still cannot relax about the situation, and we urge the opposition parties to stop their disinformation and false accusations about domestic vaccine production and efforts to obtain doses from abroad,” Ker said.
Photo: CNA
“In this troubled time, the whole of society must unite to work on the common goals needed to pull us out of this situation. This is what all our citizens want to see,” he said.
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and other opposition parties had been casting aspersions and stirring up controversy about the domestic vaccines.
“Although it is the duty of opposition parties to check on and scrutinize the ruling party, they are speculating and conjecturing to vilify domestic vaccine production based on false accusations. This has undermined efforts to unite society and it is not helping in the fight against the outbreak,” he added.
The Food and Drug Administration has given a clear directive, that to be granted emergency use authorization, a domestic vaccine must meet all the requirements of a 10-step procedure, Ker said.
None of the 10 steps can be curtailed or bypassed, while the administration would uphold the professionalism of the medical scientists verifying the clinical test results, and evaluate every step of the procedure to gain the public’s confidence, he said.
Referring to an announcement by Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs Toshimitsu Motegi on Tuesday affirming that Tokyo is considering sending more vaccine doses to Taiwan, as well as Prague Mayor Zdenek Hrib expressing his support for Taiwan, Ker said that Taiwanese should be proud of the help they have provided other nations in the past 18 months.
“On the same day, two nations have expressed the willingness to provide assistance to Taiwan... We as Taiwanese should be proud of our past endeavors,” Ker said.
“We gave help to other people when they were in need, as we put ourselves in their situation. So we helped our friends when they were most in need and now the situation has changed as Taiwan needs help, and these friends have stood up right away to support us,” he said.
DEEPER REVIEW: After receiving 19 hospital reports of suspected food poisoning, the Taipei Department of Health applied for an epidemiological investigation A buffet restaurant in Taipei’s Xinyi District (信義) is to be fined NT$3 million (US$91,233) after it remained opened despite an order to suspend operations following reports that 32 people had been treated for suspected food poisoning, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. The health department said it on Tuesday received reports from hospitals of people who had suspected food poisoning symptoms, including nausea, vomiting, stomach pain and diarrhea, after they ate at an INPARADISE (饗饗) branch in Breeze Xinyi on Sunday and Monday. As more than six people who ate at the restaurant sought medical treatment, the department ordered the
A strong continental cold air mass and abundant moisture bringing snow to mountains 3,000m and higher over the past few days are a reminder that more than 60 years ago Taiwan had an outdoor ski resort that gradually disappeared in part due to climate change. On Oct. 24, 2021, the National Development Council posted a series of photographs on Facebook recounting the days when Taiwan had a ski resort on Hehuanshan (合歡山) in Nantou County. More than 60 years ago, when developing a branch of the Central Cross-Island Highway, the government discovered that Hehuanshan, with an elevation of more than 3,100m,
Taiwan’s population last year shrank further and births continued to decline to a yearly low, the Ministry of the Interior announced today. The ministry published the 2024 population demographics statistics, highlighting record lows in births and bringing attention to Taiwan’s aging population. The nation’s population last year stood at 23,400,220, a decrease of 20,222 individuals compared to 2023. Last year, there were 134,856 births, representing a crude birth rate of 5.76 per 1,000 people, a slight decline from 2023’s 135,571 births and 5.81 crude birth rate. This decrease of 715 births resulted in a new record low per the ministry’s data. Since 2016, which saw
SECURITY: To protect the nation’s Internet cables, the navy should use buoys marking waters within 50m of them as a restricted zone, a former navy squadron commander said A Chinese cargo ship repeatedly intruded into Taiwan’s contiguous and sovereign waters for three months before allegedly damaging an undersea Internet cable off Kaohsiung, a Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) investigation revealed. Using publicly available information, the Liberty Times was able to reconstruct the Shunxing-39’s movements near Taiwan since Double Ten National Day last year. Taiwanese officials did not respond to the freighter’s intrusions until Friday last week, when the ship, registered in Cameroon and Tanzania, turned off its automatic identification system shortly before damage was inflicted to a key cable linking Taiwan to the rest of
RSS