The law prohibits Taiwan from importing vaccines made in China and no scientific evidence has shown Chinese COVID-19 vaccines to be highly effective, Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) said yesterday.
Chen, who heads the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC), made the remarks in response to media inquiries about an interview given by Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲), which was published online on Friday.
In the interview, Ko said that he expects political squabbles in March to center around Taiwan being unable to secure COVID-19 vaccines from the UK or the US, but having anxiety and debate over whether to accept vaccines from China, if Beijing offered them to Taiwan for free.
Photo: AFP
Ko added his prediction is that the COVID-19 situation will ease in August.
Asked to elaborate, Ko on Friday afternoon said that more than 20 percent of Israel’s population has been vaccinated, so it might become the first country to exit the COVID-19 pandemic.
Most vaccines remain in developed countries, so Taiwan would feel pressured when many countries begin vaccination programs by March, Ko said.
At the CECC’s daily briefing yesterday, Chen said that laws in Taiwan stipulate that it cannot import vaccines made in China.
“The effectiveness of Chinese [COVID-19] vaccines don’t seem to be particularly good,” Chen said, adding that no published technical reports or research papers have proven their effectiveness.
“From a legal perspective and a practical perspective, Chinese vaccines are not an option for us,” Chen said.
The center would continue to work on vaccine procurement and domestic vaccine development, he said, adding that people do not need to trouble each other over whether they should get a Chinese vaccine.
“If anyone thinks we should import Chinese vaccines, they can propose to amend the law, and can present scientific evidence proving that the vaccines are highly effective so that it can be discussed further,” Chen said.
Separately yesterday, Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) said that the government has confidence in its vaccine procurement and has purchased a certain number of doses.
Development of a domestic vaccine has also made some progress, so people do not need to worry, Su said.
TRAFFIC SAFETY RULES: A positive result in a drug test would result in a two-year license suspension for the driver and vehicle, and a fine of up to NT$180,000 The Ministry of Transportation and Communications is to authorize police to conduct roadside saliva tests by the end of the year to deter people from driving while under the influence of narcotics, it said yesterday. The ministry last month unveiled a draft of amended regulations governing traffic safety rules and penalties, which included provisions empowering police to conduct mandatory saliva tests on drivers. While currently rules authorize police to use oral fluid testing kits for signs of drug use, they do not establish penalties for noncompliance or operating procedures for officers to follow, the ministry said. The proposed changes to the regulations require
Taipei, New Taipei City, Keelung and Taoyuan would issue a decision at 8pm on whether to cancel work and school tomorrow due to forecasted heavy rain, Keelung Mayor Hsieh Kuo-liang (謝國樑) said today. Hsieh told reporters that absent some pressing reason, the four northern cities would announce the decision jointly at 8pm. Keelung is expected to receive between 300mm and 490mm of rain in the period from 2pm today through 2pm tomorrow, Central Weather Administration data showed. Keelung City Government regulations stipulate that school and work can be canceled if rain totals in mountainous or low-elevation areas are forecast to exceed 350mm in
EVA Airways president Sun Chia-ming (孫嘉明) and other senior executives yesterday bowed in apology over the death of a flight attendant, saying the company has begun improving its health-reporting, review and work coordination mechanisms. “We promise to handle this matter with the utmost responsibility to ensure safer and healthier working conditions for all EVA Air employees,” Sun said. The flight attendant, a woman surnamed Sun (孫), died on Friday last week of undisclosed causes shortly after returning from a work assignment in Milan, Italy, the airline said. Chinese-language media reported that the woman fell ill working on a Taipei-to-Milan flight on Sept. 22
1.4nm WAFERS: While TSMC is gearing up to expand its overseas production, it would also continue to invest in Taiwan, company chairman and CEO C.C. Wei said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) has applied for permission to construct a new plant in the Central Taiwan Science Park (中部科學園區), which it would use for the production of new high-speed wafers, the National Science and Technology Council said yesterday. The council, which supervises three major science parks in Taiwan, confirmed that the Central Taiwan Science Park Bureau had received an application on Friday from TSMC, the world’s largest contract chipmaker, to commence work on the new A14 fab. A14 technology, a 1.4 nanometer (nm) process, is designed to drive artificial intelligence transformation by enabling faster computing and greater power
RSS