A questionnaire issued by the Taichung Industrial Park Association on vaccination willingness has revealed the government’s bias toward locally developed COVID-19 vaccines, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) said on Wednesday.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs must clarify whether it pressured the Taichung Industrial Park, which falls under its purview, to issue the questionnaire, KMT Chairman Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) wrote on Facebook, adding that it is tantamount to giving a stamp of approval to local vaccines that have yet to start phase 3 clinical trials.
“Has President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) made promises to approve the vaccines without question?” Chiang wrote.
The president owes park employees, as well as the public, an explanation why they should be guinea pigs for vaccines that have not been internationally certified, he added.
Denying the charges, the association said that the questionnaire was made in preparation for the government’s mass inoculation program, as there are about 30,000 workers in the park.
The questionnaire included a statement that “if employees do not wish to be inoculated with a local or other designated vaccines, do not include them in the list,” because of the uncertainty as to what brand of vaccines would be available, the association said.
It was made to gauge the approximate number of those willing to take the jab, facilitate mass inoculation and minimize chaos once the policy is implemented, it said.
The vaccination program should transcend politics, it said, adding that it hopes the nation would be united in fighting the COVID-19 outbreak.
The ministry said that once the mass inoculation program goes into effect, it is not guaranteed that individuals would receive their preferred brand of vaccine.
To reach its goal of vaccinating 1,000 people per day at the park, the ministry asked the park to provide an estimate of people wishing to be inoculated, it said.
The ministry will not force people to take local COVID-19 vaccines, it said, adding that people can use an upcoming app to reserve the vaccine brand that they prefer.
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