Taiwan suggests mainland China pressured BioNTech to abandon Covid-19 vaccine deal

Name: Moderna Covid-19 vaccine nearly 95 per cent effective in second promising trial for US drug makers
Uploaded: 2021-02-17T12:00:14.000Z
Duration: 2 min 23 s
Description: Moderna Covid-19 vaccine nearly 95 per cent effective in second promising trial for US drug makers

Health minister says purchase of 5 million doses from German firm was paused after ‘political pressure’, but says agreement is still possible

BioNTech has partnered with Chinese firm Fosun Pharma for distribution of its vaccine in mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan

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An expected agreement for Pfizer-BioNTech to supply Covid-19 vaccines to Taiwan has been undermined by political interference, the island said. Photo: AFP

Lawrence Chung

Published: 8:00pm, 17 Feb 2021Updated: 11:06pm, 17 Feb 2021

Political pressure from Beijing meant Taiwan failed at the last minute to secure an agreement for the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine, the island’s health minister suggested on Wednesday.

Health Minister Chen Shih-chung said Taiwan could have clinched a deal last month with German pharmaceutical company BioNTech for 5 million doses of its vaccine were it not for the last-minute objection of a third party.

“Apparently some people did not want Taiwan to be happy,” he said in an interview with local radio station Hit FM.

Chen said the self-ruled island’s health authorities had discussed the supply of the vaccine with BioNTech late last year, and that during the discussions, “I was worried about interference by external forces and political pressure” that could undermine an agreement.

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Moderna Covid-19 vaccine nearly 95 per cent effective in second promising trial for US drug makers

“Internal disagreements [about the deal] and challenges about the global distribution of the vaccine” were the factors Chen said BioNTech cited in its response about the deal, which Chen said was “still pending”.