Taiwan defends rush to buy 20 million doses of local vaccines still in clinical trials

As 351 new cases and 15 new deaths are reported, Taiwan authorities say pre-ordering beats materials shortage and manufacturing delay

Talk show host questions whether Taiwanese vaccines will be recognised elsewhere and allow people who have the jabs to travel

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Frontline medical workers rest after receiving the AstraZeneca vaccine at a hospital in New Taipei, Taiwan, on May 20, 2021. Photo: EPA-EFE

Published: 2:25pm, 31 May 2021Updated: 10:03pm, 31 May 2021

Taiwan’s authorities have defended their decision to buy 20 million doses of domestically developed Covid-19 vaccines even though they are still undergoing clinical trials, saying the island must address the acute vaccine shortage.

On Monday, the Central Epidemic Command Centre reported 351 new cases and 15 new deaths – 274 new local cases, four new imported cases, and 73 cases delayed by a reporting backlog last week – bringing Taiwan’s pandemic total to 8,511, with 124 deaths.

A spokesman for the command centre said on Sunday the government had signed deals with Taiwan’s Medigen Vaccine Biologics and United Biomedical for 5 million doses each, and had verbal agreements for another 5 million each, for a total of 20 million shots.

But vaccines are still in phase 2 clinical trials and have not been approved for use.

The move prompted criticism by some medical experts and critics that President Tsai Ing-wen’s administration disregarded human life by failing to take into consideration that neither shot – which are still in phase 2 clinical trials – was formally approved for use.

“I don’t mean to deliberately pick on the domestically developed vaccines but there actually is a safety concern about the use of them, given that the results of their second-stage trials have yet to be recognised and approved,” said Kung Hsiang-chi, a doctor formerly with the infectious disease division of National Taiwan University Hospital.

He said usually a pharmaceutical product needed to complete three stages of clinical trials before approval by health authorities for marketing.