The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) prioritizes saving lives, but Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine procurement contract does not allow for Taiwan to switch undelivered doses for the new Omicron BA.4/BA.5-adapted bivalent vaccine, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝), who heads the center, said yesterday.
On the sidelines of the National Taiwan University Cancer Center’s fourth anniversary event on Monday, Hon Hai Precision Industry Co founder Terry Gou (郭台銘) told reporters that the government must prioritize people’s lives, because from his experience purchasing vaccines, he does not believe the government is doing so.
“When Taiwan needed vaccines the most, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co, the Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Foundation and I, approved by her majesty President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), worked hard to import the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine,” he said. “If the vaccine could have arrived two months earlier, I believe [COVID-19-related] deaths would have been significantly reduced.”
Photo: Lo Hsin-chen, Taipei Times
He said his 97-year-old mother had received three Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine shots, but she cannot receive the new Pfizer-BioNTech bivalent vaccine booster, as they are not available in Taiwan.
“I must stress again that we most certainly treat people’s lives as a top priority,” Wang said at the Centers for Disease Control yesterday.
Taiwan has imported nearly 23 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine — about 15 million donated by the private sector and about 7.66 million purchased by the government — as well as 26 million doses of the Moderna vaccine — about 6 million doses last year and 20 million doses this year, he said.
Wang said that there are still about 300,000 doses of the adult Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine and 700,000 doses of the children’s vaccine available to administer.
All of the scheduled Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine doses have arrived in Taiwan, he said.
However, about two months ago, when about 1 million doses had yet to be delivered, the CECC had tried to switch them with the new bivalent vaccine, but the original procurement contract did not include the option to exchange vaccines for newer types and the request was denied, he said.
Taiwan’s procurement contract with Moderna is for 20 million doses this year and 15 million doses next year, and the company has agreed to allow undelivered doses to be switched with next-generation vaccines, Wang said.
The supply of the Moderna vaccine is also more flexible, as the vaccine maker is willing to deliver more doses when demand is higher or postpone delivery if people are less willing to get vaccinated, he said.
There are still about 4 million doses of Moderna’s Omicron-adapted bivalent vaccine available, and the center would be launching campaigns to encourage more people to get vaccinated, as recently there have been only about 20,000 to 30,000 doses administered per day, Wang said.
The Pfizer-BioNTech and the Moderna bivalent vaccines are mRNA vaccines approved by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices for use as a booster shot, and there is no evidence of there being a significant difference in their efficacy or side effects.
The CECC yesterday reported 17,080 new local COVID-19 cases, 51 imported cases and 18 deaths. The local caseload was 0.2 percent lower than on Tuesday last week.
Of the 18 deaths, 11 people were unvaccinated, while 15 had not received a booster shot, CECC data showed.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as
RSS