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Tsai defends support for local vaccines
Courtesy of ICRT
President Tsai Ing-wen is defending the development of domestic coronavirus vaccines - saying the government has tried its best to take delivery of 20 million doses ordered from overseas to ensure people here can be vaccinated.
The statement comes amid allegations the government is deliberately preventing imports of vaccines to protect domestic vaccine makers.
Speaking in a public address livestreamed on various social media platforms, Tsai also denied claims the government is preventing private efforts to bring in vaccines, saying that it simply needs to ensure that vaccines imported into Taiwan are "safe, genuine and legal."
Tsai says the government will assist groups trying to get vaccines through their own channels, but she also stressed the need for Taiwan to develop its own vaccines due to the shortage of vaccines in the international market.
Tsai also says it is her administration's "strategic priority" to develop Taiwan's own vaccines so that "we will not depend on others."
According to the Central Epidemic Command Center, Taiwan has taken delivery of fewer than 900,000 vaccine doses, mostly from AstraZeneca, and 418,210 doses have been administered.
