The Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Foundation’s application to import 5 million doses of the BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine will not be considered alongside similar requests tendered by the Yonglin Foundation and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) due to differences in their applications, Executive Yuan spokesperson Lo Ping-cheng (羅秉成) said yesterday.
The Tzu Chi Foundation on Wednesday submitted an application to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), after the Executive Yuan on Friday last week authorized the YongLin Foundation and TSMC to represent the government to purchase vaccines from BioNTech.
After evaluations, the proposals by TSMC and the YongLin Foundation are more feasible and have a greater “chance” of success, Lo told a news conference at the Executive Yuan in Taipei.
Photo courtesy of the Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Foundation
The Tzu Chi Foundation’s application is not being merged with the other two due to differences with each application, he said, without elaborating.
International purchases of vaccines are complicated and it is vital to develop a model that has a greater chance of success, Lo said.
None of the applications included an “authorization notice” from the original manufacturer, BioNTech.
It is rare that the first tender of an application includes a manufacturer’s authorization, FDA Director-General Wu Shou-mei (吳秀梅) said on Wednesday, adding that it would look into the Tzu Chi Foundation’s application and ask it to provide any missing documents.
The Tzu Chi Foundation has said that it cannot obtain the manufacturer’s authorization unless the government first approves its application.
Tzu Chi Foundation executive director Yen Po-wen (顏博文) said that it has followed the government regulations and would do its best to provide whatever documents are required.
Should a purchase proceed, vaccines would be directly imported to Taiwan from Germany, Yen said.
Yen denied a rumor that the Tzu Chi Foundation canceled a news conference to announce its vaccine purchase plan after on Monday receiving a call from the Presidential Office.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Wen Yu-hsia (溫玉霞) on Monday made the allegation, although the Presidential Office has denied exerting pressure on the Tzu Chi Foundation.
The Tzu Chi Foundation said that it has three reasons for purchasing BioNTech vaccines.
First, it believes that it is the most effective vaccine against COVID-19; second, the manufacturer can supply sufficient doses in an emergency situation; and third, it is the only vaccine on the market that can be administered to 12 to 17-year-olds.
Vaccine import regulations say that applicants must do so through a pharmaceutical company and application must include eight pieces of documentation: plans and methods of execution; a pharmaceutical insert; the amount imported and why the amount was requested; proof of transport and storage at adequate temperatures; the date of vaccine provision; authorization from the original manufacturer; vaccine expiry dates; and proof of pre-market clearance in foreign countries, the Central Epidemic Command Center said last month.
Additional reporting by Wu Liang-yi
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