The Ministry of Health and Welfare yesterday said it had neither blocked the purchase of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines nor was it associated with stock speculation involving the domestic Medigen COVID-19 vaccine during the pandemic.
The statements were in response to claims two vice presidential candidates made during a televised policy presentation held by the Central Election Committee on Friday evening.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) vice presidential candidate Jaw Shaw-kong (趙少康) said the government had hindered purchases of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines and was engaged in stock speculation involving the Medigen vaccine during the pandemic.
Photo: Lin Hui-chin, Taipei Times
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) denied the claims, saying that the government had since 2020 approached companies to procure COVID-19 vaccines, including Pfizer-BioNTech, but the contract signing procedure with Pfizer-BioNTech was affected by external political interference and was suddenly halted in the last phase on Jan. 8, 2021.
The CDC said it had established an ad hoc task force to assist in dealing with procurement, legal issues and granting emergency-use authorization when local companies expressed a willingness to purchase and donate Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines in June 2021, so it had absolutely not hindered the process.
It added that it did not engage in stock speculation linked to the Medigen vaccine, and prosecutors have investigated 63 cases associated with the Medigen vaccine, but no unlawful actions were uncovered.
“Vaccine procurement and vaccination promotion were conducted while upholding the principle of professionalism and public health welfare as a top priority, which we have clarified many times,” the CDC said.
“We deeply regret untruthful remarks are still being made,” it said.
Jaw during Friday’s televised presentation said his parents and secretary died of lung adenocarcinoma, as have many young people who were not smokers, so it must be attributed to air pollution, and that the government’s energy policy is a complete failure.
In response, the ministry’s Health Promotion Administration said risk factors of lung cancer include cigarette smoking and exposure to secondhand
smoke — the main risk factor, accounting for 70 to 80 percent — and family history of lung cancer, outdoor and indoor air pollution, chronic lung diseases and exposure to radiation, heavy metals, or other harmful substances, so it is not limited to air pollution.
Meanwhile, Taiwan People’s Party vice presidential candidate Cynthia Wu (吳欣盈) said during Friday’s presentation that people had to disclose personal information for many reasons during the pandemic, which could be exploited by scam syndicates.
In response, the NHI Administration yesterday said that as the NHI card was used to buy masks in the mask rationing program during the pandemic, all personal and purchase data were transmitted through safe encrypted methods and there were no personal information or data leak issues.
It said that as COVID-19 was downgraded on May 1,
the NHIA destroyed all personal and purchase data used for the program according to the Personal Data Protection Act (個人資料保護法).
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