As vaccine tensions rise, some in Taiwan head to mainland China for a jab

Name: US sends 2.5 million Covid-19 vaccine doses to Taiwan
Uploaded: 2021-06-27T01:00:28.000Z
Duration: 1 min 34 s
Description: US sends 2.5 million Covid-19 vaccine doses to Taiwan

It’s become the latest cross-strait battle as Taipei scrambles to secure doses but says it doesn’t want Chinese ones

Some residents are taking up Beijing’s offer anyway, though according to a travel agent it’s mostly those with mainland connections

3-MIN READ3-MIN

A resident rests for 15 minutes after getting a Covid-19 jab in New Taipei. The island is struggling to secure enough doses. Photo: EPA-EFE

Kristin Huang

Published: 9:00am, 27 Jun 2021Updated: 11:04am, 2 Jul 2021

Vaccines have become the latest source of tension between Beijing and Taipei, as the self-ruled island grapples with its worst outbreak of Covid-19 and a shortage of doses.

Taiwan had been a success story for its handling of the pandemic but a sudden surge in cases since April has had the authorities scrambling to secure vaccines for its population of 23.5 million.

Beijing has offered to send Chinese vaccines to Taiwan, which it sees as part of its territory. But Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen rejected that offer – and a proposal for residents to get the jab at mainland airports – because of safety and efficacy concerns. That has angered Beijing, its Taiwan Affairs Office spokesman Ma Xiaoguang saying on Monday that Tsai had “ignored the goodwill from the mainland and politicised the vaccine shortage problems”.

Shipments have instead started to arrive from elsewhere – including 2.5 million doses from the US – further annoying Beijing.

01:34

US sends 2.5 million Covid-19 vaccine doses to Taiwan

As the accusations fly, some residents are taking up Beijing’s offer anyway, by travelling to the Chinese mainland to get a jab. But a travel agent arranging those trips says most who go have a mainland connection, and it could be too costly otherwise.