The Taichung City Government has announced that vaccines produced by Taiwan’s Medigen Vaccine Biologics Corp would not be distributed on school campuses, citing “respect for parental concerns.”
This incident exposes the severe absurdity in the city government’s prioritization of political interests. When public health policy is no longer based on scientific evidence, but is guided by political trends, this is more than mere administrative negligence — it is an affront to the dignity of Taiwan’s scientific research.
Medigen vaccines are a representative achievement of Taiwan’s biotechnology industry. In 1998, enterovirus 71 (EV71) hit Taiwan hard, resulting in the deaths of 78 children. In 2019, Medigen collaborated with the National Health Research Institutes to develop the world’s first EV71 vaccine, filling a major gap in epidemic prevention and saving countless lives. This marked a significant milestone in Taiwan’s scientific research.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Medigen’s spike protein stabilization technology was licensed by the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Moderna Inc, making it one of the few companies worldwide to receive official recognition from the NIH — a move that symbolized the US’ substantial recognition for Taiwan’s scientific research. The clinical data were published in the Lancet Respiratory Medicine journal, passing rigorous peer review, and the technology also included in the WHO’s COVAX allocation program and approved for use in nations such as Paraguay, Belize and Malawi.
Despite these achievements, the Taichung City Government has crudely excluded Medigen vaccines from schools with a single phrase — “parental concerns.”
If mere “concerns” are enough to prevail over scientific evidence, then all research and technology could be easily silenced by fear. This would not only stifle innovation, but undermine Taiwan’s industrial competitiveness.
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) has long used biotechnology as a political tool and the actions of the city government are yet another example of this damaging tradition in action. From the 2012 Yu Chang Biologics case — which involved the National Development Fund falsifying documents and initiating a smear campaign against then-presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) — to the 2016 OBI Pharma Inc case — in which Michael Chang (張念慈), former chairman of the firm, and four other executives were accused of insider trading — to Medigen, each attack by the KMT has coincided with electoral calculations. In every instance, those accused were ultimately shown to be innocent, but not without damaging Taiwan’s biotechnolgy reputation in the process.
Today, the Taichung City Government is repeating this same act of political violence and stifling innovation.
Medigen should not remain silent. This is no longer merely a commercial dispute, but a matter of public trust and scientific ethics. Medigen should file an administrative lawsuit against the Taichung City Government, demanding that the city publicly disclose the risk assessment justifying its decision.
A lack of scientific data supporting the decision to ban Medigen vaccines from use in schools would constitute an abuse of administrative power, contravening the principles of fairness and due process under the Administrative Procedure Act (行政程序法).
Allowing politics to trample over science at will would lead the very foundation of a city’s civilization to collapse. Should Medigen be brave enough to take legal action, it would not only be defending itself, it would be setting a dignified milestone for science in Taiwan.
Liou Je-wei is a teacher.
Translated by Kyra Gustavsen
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