/https://specials-images.forbesimg.com/imageserve/602ccdd43be94fa3ebb1715e/0x0.jpg?cropX1=0&cropX2=2635&cropY1=0&cropY2=1482&w=1200&resize=1200,675&ssl=1 "Taiwan Says Deal To Buy 5 Million Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 Vaccines On Hold, Hints At Pressure From China")
Topline
Taiwan’s plan to buy 5 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine from German drugmaker BioNTech is on hold, the island’s health minister announced on Wednesday, hinting at potential pressure from the Chinese government adding to tensions between China and Taiwan which have escalated during the pandemic.
Taiwan’s Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung speaks during a press conference at the … [+]
AFP via Getty Images
Key Facts
In a radio interview on Wednesday, Taiwanese Health Minister Chen Shih-chung said that the government was on the verge of announcing a deal with BioNTech in December when the drugmaker suddenly backed out of the deal.
Without explicitly naming China, Chen said he believes political factors influenced the decision, claiming that BioNTech’s Chinese partner, Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical, had opposed the deal.
Taiwan initially announced that it had secured 20 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines, including 4.76 million doses from the WHO’s COVAX global initiative, 10 million doses of the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine and the eventually cancelled five million doses from an unnamed foreign company—now confirmed to be BioNTech.
Key Background
Tensions between China and Taiwan—which the former claims as part of its own territory—have ratcheted up during the past year amid the Covid-19 pandemic. Taiwan has alleged that China’s lack of transparency aggravated the pandemic around the world while China has insisted that only it can speak for the island at international forums like the WHO. In December BioNTech, which co-developed an mRNA vaccine with U.S. based Pfizer, signed a deal with China’s Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical. As part of the deal, the two will exclusively develop and sell Covid-19 vaccines based on BioNTech’s mRNA technology in mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan. Both companies plan to supply 100 million doses of their vaccine as part of the deal.
Big Number
938. That’s the total number of Covid-19 cases Taiwan has reported since the start of the pandemic, including just 9 deaths. Most cases in the country have been imported cases, which have been quickly detected and isolated, effectively stamping out the disease from the island.
Further Reading
COVID vaccine deal with Taiwan falls through after Chinese pressure: Health minister (Taiwan News)
Taiwan says BioNTech vaccine deal on hold, cites potential Chinese pressure (Reuters)
/https://specials-images.forbesimg.com/imageserve/602ccdd43be94fa3ebb1715e/0x0.jpg?cropX1=0&cropX2=2635&cropY1=0&cropY2=1482&w=1200&resize=1200,0&ssl=1&description=Taiwan+Says+Deal+To+Buy+5+Million+Pfizer-BioNTech+Covid-19+Vaccines+On+Hold%2C+Hints+At+Pressure+From+China){kind=link}
Interesting news you have. This should really improve the processes. Thank you for the detailed explanation.