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President Tsai Ing-wen gets Taiwan’s domestically developed Covid-19 vaccine
- Injection with Medigen’s vaccine at a hospital in Taipei is broadcast live on Facebook
- There have been concerns over whether approval of the vaccine, which has yet to finish clinical trials, was rushed
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President Tsai Ing-wen got vaccinated with Taiwan’s first domestically developed Covid-19 vaccine on Monday, and gave her personal stamp of approval as the island began rolling out the shot, whose approval critics say has been rushed.
The health ministry last month approved the emergency use of Medigen Vaccine Biologics’ vaccine, as part of a broader plan for inoculation self-sufficiency as delays in vaccine deliveries from global drug companies affect many countries.
Tsai, who had held off using vaccines from Moderna or AstraZeneca, the current mainstay of Taiwan’s vaccination programme, received her Medigen shot at a hospital in central Taipei, demonstrating her confidence in the safety of the vaccine.
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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 “no” to a shouted question from reporters about whether she was nervous.
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More than 700,000 people have signed up so far to receive the Medigen vaccine, which requires a second shot 28 days after the first one.
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The government says the initial experience of the pandemic last year, when basic supplies such as face masks were in short supply, made it realise it had to be able to rely on itself for critical materials.
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