Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), and the Hon Hai Precision Industry Co-affiliated YongLin Foundation yesterday said that they were about to sign procurement contracts with Germany’s BioNTech for its COVID-19 vaccine.
Facing public pressure about the slow pace of Taiwan’s inoculation program, the government last month allowed Hon Hai founder Terry Gou (郭台銘) and TSMC to negotiate on its behalf for the vaccines, which would be donated to the government for distribution.
“There are multiple parties. We are in the middle of the contract signing process. We will make announcements once the process is completed,” TSMC said in a statement.
The foundation used almost exactly the same wording in a separate statement.
Neither elaborated.
A spokesperson for Gou said: “When there is further news, we will formally explain it to the outside world.”
She gave no details.
In response to media queries yesterday, Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) said that talks on procuring the vaccine were ongoing.
“Once there is a definite outcome, we’ll naturally report it to everyone,” he said.
A source with knowledge of the matter told reporters that contract talks were “not yet 100 percent complete.”
Another source said that while they were close to finalizing the deal, uncertainties remained.
Gou and TSMC this month reached an initial agreement with a subsidiary of Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical Group Co, which has a contract with BioNTech to sell the vaccines in Taiwan, China, Hong Kong and Macau, sources previously told Reuters.
Gou and TSMC are seeking to buy 5 million doses each.
The BioNTech vaccine drama has transfixed local media and dominated headlines.
The Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Foundation is also trying to buy doses of the vaccine, which was developed jointly with US firm Pfizer.
Taiwan has signed contracts to purchase about 20 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines from abroad, including 5.05 million doses of the Moderna jab, 10 million doses of the AstraZeneca jab and 4.76 million of unspecified brands through COVAX.
To date, only about 2.15 million ordered doses have been delivered, but Taiwan has received donations of 4.86 million doses from the US and Japan.
The government has also signed contracts to buy 10 million vaccine doses from two Taiwanese manufacturers, although they have only completed phase 2 clinical trials.
Medigen Vaccine Biologics Corp last week said that it had applied to conduct phase 3 clinical trials in Paraguay, while United Biomedical Inc said it was seeking to do the same in India.
Additional reporting by CNA
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