A survey of Taiwanese adults this month showed that more than 60 percent are willing to be vaccinated against COVID-19, but just 1 percent would accept China-made vaccines, the Chinese-language Global Views monthly magazine said.
If the vaccinations are funded by the government, 60.3 percent of respondents said they would get the inoculation, 32.7 percent would not and 7 percent said they had not yet decided.
Of those willing to be vaccinated, 65.4 percent of men said they would get the vaccine, while only 55.5 percent of women welcomed it.
Photo: AFP
People in the transportation and healthcare industries are more willing to receive the vaccine, at 79.4 percent and 75.8 percent respectively, compared with other fields.
The survey also showed that 59.8 and 57.1 percent of respondents were confident in the “efficacy” and “safety” of current vaccines in preventing COVID-19 infection respectively, while 29.4 percent and 32.2 percent respectively still had doubts.
Given a choice, 54.8 percent said they would prefer vaccines made in Taiwan, 31.8 percent preferred those made in Europe or the US and 1.3 percent preferred Chinese vaccines, while 5.7 percent said all vaccines were the same.
Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the Central Epidemic Command Center, said that the survey’s results were similar to the center’s previous survey in which 66.1 percent of respondents were willing and 27.9 percent were not willing to be vaccinated.
The slight difference might be because the center had surveyed more healthcare professionals and frontline disease prevention workers, who might be more willing to be vaccinated, he said.
The willingness of people to be vaccinated against any disease might be affected by the drug’s efficacy and safety, and the disease situation, Chen said.
He said he believed that if the government is transparent in releasing scientific information about the vaccines, people would become more confident about getting vaccinated.
The telephone survey of Taiwanese aged 18 years and older was conducted from Feb. 4 to Feb. 7, with 1,145 valid questionnaires collected.
PAPERS, PLEASE: A digital certificate or a printout would return one of three results: green for ‘pass,’ red for ‘not passed’ or yellow for ‘to be determined,’ the CECC said Starting today, people can download a Digital COVID-19 Certificate, with the government now requiring people at night clubs, karaoke bars and other businesses in “eight major special establishment categories” to be fully vaccinated and present a vaccination certificate. The eight categories include dance venues, massage parlors, hostess bars and saunas. Customers and service personnel at the venues have a higher risk of contracting COVID-19, as they can neither avoid contact with people nor strictly observe distancing guidelines, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said. As such, both groups are required to be fully vaccinated, meaning that they must have had at least a
ORDER OF 66 JETS: Delivering the F-16s faster and enabling Taiwan to develop its fleet into one of the biggest in Asia would be based on ‘risk assessment,’ one official said The US is looking for ways to accelerate delivery of Taiwan’s next generation of newly built F-16 jets, US officials said, bolstering the Taiwanese air force’s ability to respond to what Taipei and Washington see as increasing intimidation by the Chinese military. The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that they have not yet come up with a solution on how to speed up delivery of Block 70 F-16s, manufactured by Lockheed Martin Corp and equipped with new capabilities. The aircraft are slated to be delivered by the end of 2026. Taipei has privately expressed its wish for a faster delivery
LAWMAKERS RALLY: Beijing’s unlegislated actions breach international and WTO trade rules, and affect the basic principles of the EU single market, the letter said A group of 41 EU lawmakers on Tuesday condemned China for its political and economic coercion of Lithuania, and called on leaders of the bloc to demonstrate solidarity with Vilnius. The letter was initiated by Slovakian Member of the European Parliament (MEP) Miriam Lexmann, who is cochair of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China. “We, the undersigned members of the European Parliament, resolutely condemn political and economic coercion of the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) against Lithuania,” the letter said. The letter addressed European Council President Charles Michel, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and
‘GOOD FRIEND’: The Slovenian prime minister said he had visited Taiwan four or five times, and that Taiwanese should have the right to determine their future The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday welcomed Slovenia’s plan to establish a representative office in Taiwan, after Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa revealed the plan in an interview with Indian TV station Doordarshan on Monday. Taiwan is a democratic country that respects international democratic standards and international laws, the Slovenian prime minister said in the interview. Slovenia and Taiwan are working on “exchanging representatives,” he said. “Of course, this will not be on the level of embassies. It will be on the same level as many of the EU member countries.” “When I spoke with our businessmen who are trading with Taiwan, they
RSS