Limited ability to defend the government amid “disinformation” about its COVID-19 vaccine procurement efforts caused a lot of frustration, Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥) said, adding that confidentiality clauses meant his hands were tied.
Chuang, a former spokesman for the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC), told the Chinese-language United Daily News in an interview published yesterday that the CECC was accused of “insufficient capability” to acquire vaccines and “deliberately blocking private-sector entities from buying vaccines.”
However, he had no choice but to remain silent, as the CECC was bound by confidentiality clauses, he said, adding that it was a disheartening situation and made him feel “defeated.”
Photo: CNA
The weight of disinformation led to the public’s impression of the CECC turning from positive to negative, which was unfair to his colleagues who worked hard on COVID-19 prevention, he said.
Chuang told the newspaper that the experience made him more proactive when refuting false rumors in the media or among the public.
Minister of Health and Welfare Hsueh Jui-yuan (薛瑞元) said he “felt the same” as Chuang.
There was a lot of “distorted” information about vaccine purchases, but officials could do little to defend themselves, due to the confidentiality clauses, Hsueh told reporters ahead of a meeting of the legislature’s Social Welfare and Environmental Hygiene committee.
“I understand why Chuang feels aggrieved,” he said.
During the meeting, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Su Chiao-hui (蘇巧慧) asked Hsueh to explain the difference between “frustrated” and “defeated.”
“Frustrated” is an unpleasant feeling, while “defeated” is seeing it as a failure, Hsueh said.
Asked to clarify his feeling, Chuang said that “during vaccine procurement, there was a lot of false information being spread, but being unable to openly explain the truth due to the confidentiality clauses caused ‘frustration.’”
Su said some Chinese-language media had misinterpreted Chuang, characterizing his words as meaning the vaccine purchases were the biggest defeat — meaning failure — of the COVID-19 prevention efforts.
She told Chuang he should be extra careful in his choice of words when speaking to the media.
DPP Legislator Lai Hui-yuan (賴惠員) asked Hsueh whether the CECC’s recommendation of “at least one dose” of a COVID-19 vaccine per year would be enough.
People who have not received a shot of an Omicron BA.4/BA.5-adapted bivalent vaccine this year are encouraged to get the booster shot, but the center plans to encourage elderly people and members of high-risk groups to get a second shot in autumn, Hsueh said.
Separately, the CECC yesterday reported 10,876 new local COVID-19 cases — a 9.3 percent drop from a week earlier — and 40 deaths.
CDC Deputy Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞), who is CECC spokesman, said that eased rules for protective gear for healthcare providers were implemented starting yesterday, including allowing them to wear a medical-grade or surgical mask when consulting with a suspected case, with gloves or thorough hand hygiene if they need to make contact.
The number of people requiring treatment for COVID-19 is gradually returning to levels prior to the nationwide outbreak, so the criteria to be admitted to COVID-19 wards have been tightened to mainly only admitting patients with pneumonia or respiratory symptoms, Lo said.
As daily local case counts are expected to remain at about 10,000, more COVID-19 restrictions are likely to be eased soon, he added.
The brilliant blue waters, thick foliage and bucolic atmosphere on this seemingly idyllic archipelago deep in the Pacific Ocean belie the key role it now plays in a titanic geopolitical struggle. Palau is again on the front line as China, and the US and its allies prepare their forces in an intensifying contest for control over the Asia-Pacific region. The democratic nation of just 17,000 people hosts US-controlled airstrips and soon-to-be-completed radar installations that the US military describes as “critical” to monitoring vast swathes of water and airspace. It is also a key piece of the second island chain, a string of
A magnitude 5.9 earthquake that struck about 33km off the coast of Hualien City was the "main shock" in a series of quakes in the area, with aftershocks expected over the next three days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Prior to the magnitude 5.9 quake shaking most of Taiwan at 6:53pm yesterday, six other earthquakes stronger than a magnitude of 4, starting with a magnitude 5.5 quake at 6:09pm, occurred in the area. CWA Seismological Center Director Wu Chien-fu (吳健富) confirmed that the quakes were all part of the same series and that the magnitude 5.5 temblor was
Taiwan will now have four additional national holidays after the Legislative Yuan passed an amendment today, which also made Labor Day a national holiday for all sectors. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) used their majority in the Legislative Yuan to pass the amendment to the Act on Implementing Memorial Days and State Holidays (紀念日及節日實施辦法), which the parties jointly proposed, in its third and final reading today. The legislature passed the bill to amend the act, which is currently enforced administratively, raising it to the legal level. The new legislation recognizes Confucius’ birthday on Sept. 28, the
The Central Weather Administration has issued a heat alert for southeastern Taiwan, warning of temperatures as high as 36°C today, while alerting some coastal areas of strong winds later in the day. Kaohsiung’s Neimen District (內門) and Pingtung County’s Neipu Township (內埔) are under an orange heat alert, which warns of temperatures as high as 36°C for three consecutive days, the CWA said, citing southwest winds. The heat would also extend to Tainan’s Nansi (楠西) and Yujing (玉井) districts, as well as Pingtung’s Gaoshu (高樹), Yanpu (鹽埔) and Majia (瑪家) townships, it said, forecasting highs of up to 36°C in those areas
RSS