TAIPEI 鈥 President Tsai听Ing-wen听got vaccinated with Taiwan鈥檚 first domestically developed coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine on Monday, giving her personal stamp of approval as the island begins rolling out the shot whose approval critics say has been rushed.听听
The health ministry last month approved the emergency use of Medigen Vaccine Biologics Corp鈥檚 COVID-19 vaccine, part of a broader plan for inoculation self-sufficiency as delays in vaccine deliveries from global drug companies have affected Taiwan and many other countries.听听
Ms.听Tsai, who had held off using vaccines from Moderna Inc. or AstraZeneca Plc, the current mainstay of Taiwan鈥檚 vaccination program, received her Medigen shot at a hospital in central Taipei, demonstrating her confidence in the safety of the vaccine.听听
Ms.听Tsai chatted to medical workers as they prepared her shot, the whole process being broadcast live on her Facebook page, and gave a short response of 鈥渘o鈥 to a shouted question from reporters about whether she was nervous.听听
鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 hurt, I鈥檓 in good spirits, and I鈥檓 going to continue working for the day,鈥 she later wrote on Facebook.听听
The government says the initial experience of the pandemic last year, when basic supplies such as face masks were in short supply, made it realize they had to be able to rely on themselves for critical materials.听听
Medigen, whose Chinese name literally means 鈥渉igh-end,鈥澨齬ejects听claims听its vaccine is either unsafe or that it has been sent to market with undue haste, saying it is effective and well tested.听听
鈥淲e have done so many experiments, everyone has seen how safe our vaccine is. There are so few side effects, almost no fever and so on.听So听I think everyone can rest assured,鈥 Medigen鈥檚 Chief Executive Officer Charles Chen told Reuters.听听
The recombinant protein vaccine has been developed in collaboration with the National Institutes of Health in the United States, and the government has ordered an initial听five听million doses. It says nobody will be forced to get it.听听
The vaccine has yet to finish clinical trials and no efficacy data is available, but the government says studies so far have shown that antibodies created by the shot have been 鈥渘o worse than鈥 those created by AstraZeneca鈥檚 vaccine.听听
Taiwan鈥檚 main opposition party, the Kuomintang, or KMT, has mounted a fierce campaign against the shot, with one of its former vice chairmen, Hau Lung-bin, filing a lawsuit to invalidate Medigen鈥檚 authorization, though a court rejected that last week.听听
The party says it supports domestic vaccines, but that Medigen鈥檚 approval has been rushed.听听
鈥淭here is no need for the lives and health of the Taiwanese people to serve as white rats in a laboratory,鈥 Ho Chih-yung, deputy head of the KMT鈥檚 international department, told Reuters.听听
Around 40% of Taiwan鈥檚 23.5 million people have received at least one shot of either of the two-dose AstraZeneca or Moderna vaccines, though fewer than 5% are fully vaccinated.听听
However, unlike some other parts of Asia, Taiwan faces no huge pressure to accelerate its vaccination drive, as it is recording only a handful of domestic infections a day.听听
Taiwan has received more than 10 million vaccine doses to date, and in July ordered a further 36 million doses of Moderna鈥檚.听听
It has reported 15,932 infections since the pandemic began, including 828 deaths. 鈥斕Fabian Hamacher/Reuters听
