COVID-19: Tzu Chi takes next step to buy vaccinesPRIVATE AID: Tzu Chi joins Yonglin and TSMC in working to purchase vaccines for the government, although the Executive Yuan had initially not approved the dealsBy Lee Hsin-fangand Wang Chun-chi / Staff reportersThe Executive Yuan yesterday confirmed that it had given the Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Foundation the necessary documents for it to procure 5 million doses of the BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. The confirmation came after the foundation earlier said in a news release that it had signed documents with the government on Friday. The foundation also thanked the government for its help, allowing it to hasten the process of acquiring vaccines and donating them back to the government. Protest organizers urged the government to import more vaccines instead of waiting for locally developed shots to become available. Tzu Chi on June 23 submitted its vaccine purchase plan to the Food and Drug Administration, but Executive Yuan spokesman Lo Ping-cheng (羅秉成) said the following day that it would not approve it.

Source: Taipei Times July 10, 2021 15:56 UTC