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.
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