Taiwan debates approvals short cut for locally made Covid-19 vaccines
- As the island battles its latest outbreak and struggles with vaccine supply, experts weigh up risks and potential rewards
- Supporters say full phase 3 clinical trials are becoming more difficult to conduct as more vaccines roll out
Taiwan has seen its Covid-19 death toll jump to 686 people, as of Sunday, from only about a dozen before the current outbreak. It has also recorded its first cases of the highly contagious Delta variant.
Supporters say the short cut is needed because Taiwan is in a real crunch, and they argue that the move could soon become more common worldwide. That is because as more vaccines roll out, it is getting increasingly difficult to conduct the usual tests of a vaccine’s efficacy.
But, as Chen’s resignation shows, the proposal has also raised concerns about the risks, chiefly regarding whether people might be given a vaccine that ultimately is shown not to work.
“This is a short cut, and this has to do with President Tsai (Ing-wen) – we don’t have enough vaccines, and the ruling party is very anxious,” Chen said, referring to the president’s remarks in May saying the first batch of domestically made vaccines would be ready in July.
Tsai’s remarks were viewed by some as putting pressure on regulators before interim data was even analysed. She has since revised her comments to say July is a goal, and she hopes the first batch will be ready by then.