Taiwan receives first batch of politically charged Pfizer vaccinesTaiwan has been struggling to secure enough vaccines for its populationTAIPEI - Taiwan received its first batch of Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccines on Thursday, a delivery organised by two tech giants and a charity because of diplomatic pressure from China. Despite donations of several million doses from the United States and Japan in June, Taiwan has been struggling to secure enough vaccines for its 23.5 million population and its precarious political status has been a major stumbling block. As Taipei and Beijing accused each other of hampering vaccine deals, the companies stepped in with a face-saving solution: buying the Pfizer-BioNTech doses from Chinese distributor Fosun Pharma and donating them to Taiwan. Taipei had tried to secure Pfizer-BioNTech jabs from Germany but hit a roadblock: Shanghai-based Fosun has the distribution rights for China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan. In return, Beijing accused Taiwan of refusing to deal with Fosun Pharma and politicising its vaccine search.

Source: Bangkok Post September 02, 2021 03:56 UTC