COVID-19: Medigen results good, experts say
COVID-19: Medigen results good, experts say‘SECOND BEST’: A researcher said that as phase 3 vaccine trials could take several years, it would be best for Taiwan to use the vaccines based on the phase 2 resultsStaff writer, with CNAPhase 2 clinical trial results of a COVID-19 vaccine developed by Medigen Vaccine Biologics Corp generated good data, experts said, although they warned that there was still no way to know how effectively it would prevent the disease. “Data look quite good,” Academia Sinica researcher Michael Lai (賴明詔) said on Thursday after Medigen announced that its vaccine candidate had shown no major safety concerns. There are many ways to produce vaccines, including via protein subunits such as the one Medigen is working on, he said. It would be acceptable for Medigen to apply for EUA with only the results of its phase 2 trials, he said. Medigen said it would seek an EUA from the Food and Drug Administration as soon as possible based on the promising results from its phase 2 clinical trials.
Source:Taipei Times
June 11, 2021 15:56 UTC
COVID-19: CECC reports 286 local virus cases
COVID-19: CECC reports 286 local virus casesCARING FOR THE SICK: The center said that it would distribute monoclonal antibody drugs and negative pressure isolation units to hospitals across the nationBy Lin Chia-nan / Staff reporterThe Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday reported 286 new local cases of COVID-19 and 24 deaths. The local cases are 141 males and 145 females, Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center, told a daily news briefing in Taipei. This week’s total case number seems to have slightly decreased compared with last week’s total, but has remained relatively level, Chen said. Photo: CNAPrevious centers of the local outbreak recorded the largest number of new cases, with 120 in New Taipei City, 56 in Miaoli County and 49 in Taipei, center data showed. As of yesterday, Taiwan had recorded 12,500 confirmed cases, including 11,294 local cases and 1,153 imported ones, and 385 deaths from the disease, the data showed.
Source:Taipei Times
June 11, 2021 15:56 UTC
FDA unveils standards for EUA of local vaccines
FDA unveils standards for EUA of local vaccinesUNBLINDING: The efficacy of locally developed COVID-19 vaccines must at least be on par with the AstraZeneca vaccine to be granted emergency use authorizationBy Kayleigh Madjar / Staff writer, with CNAThe Food and Drug Administration (FDA) yesterday announced emergency use authorization (EUA) standards for locally developed COVID-19 vaccines, just hours before Medigen Vaccine Biologics Corp (高端) announced its phase 2 trial results. The standards include safety data from at least 3,000 subjects and efficacy test results at least on par with the AstraZeneca vaccine, the FDA said. To determine the appropriate level, the FDA is to commission Ministry of Health and Welfare hospitals to conduct studies comparing the effect of domestic vaccines with that of foreign vaccines, Wu said. The unblinding would only reveal if there were differences between the subjects who received a vaccine and those who received a placebo, Wu said. The results must still be sent to the FDA before it can begin EUA procedures, she added.
Source:Taipei Times
June 10, 2021 15:56 UTC
CECC’s vaccine buying ‘too slow’
Photo: Wu Chia-ying, Taipei TimesJust 28.1 percent of respondents said that they were willing to take a domestic vaccine not approved by the WHO, the European Medicines Agency or the US Food and Drug Administration. About 52.8 percent of DPP voters and 48.6 percent of Taiwan Statebuilding Party voters said that they were willing to receive a Taiwanese vaccine, while less than 30 percent of voters from all other parties said that they would. On the same day, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Hsueh Jui-yuan (薛瑞元) told lawmakers that the vaccines budget approved last year had been used up buying foreign-made vaccines, Kao said. “Where did the budget for the May 28 order of 10 million doses of domestic vaccines come from?” she asked. Su did not directly respond to Kao’s questions, while Chen replied that the process was hastened to ensure manufacturers would be prepared to produce the vaccine doses.
Source:Taipei Times
June 10, 2021 15:56 UTC
Telecoms post annual revenue growth
Telecoms post annual revenue growthBy Lisa Wang / Staff reporterTaiwan’s three major telecoms yesterday reported that revenue grew annually last month on increased demand for mobile and broadband services, as working from home, online shopping and distance learning became new norms amid a nationwide level 3 COVID-19 alert. “As mobile users subscribed to more upscale plans, mobile service revenue continued to grow,” Chunghwa Telecom said in a statement. Net profit grew 5.7 percent to NT$2.96 billion last month from NT$2.8 billion a year earlier, the company said. Online shopping revenue generated at its subsidiary Momo.com Inc (富邦媒體) accounted for 60 percent of its revenue last month, Taiwan Mobile said. In the first five months, revenue expanded 5.49 percent to NT$33.65 billion from NT$31.9 billion in the same period last year.
Source:Taipei Times
June 10, 2021 15:56 UTC
Good Liver Clinic’s ‘jab hookup’ probed
Good Liver Clinic’s ‘jab hookup’ probedSPECIAL ACCESS? However, a Good Liver Clinic branch was on Tuesday found to have a long line for vaccinations. The Democratic Progressive Party legislative caucus yesterday holds a news conference calling on the Taipei City Government to provide answers to questions concerning the city’s vaccine rollout. Yesterday, Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) told a Cabinet meeting: “Vaccines are precious right now because of their limited supply, so administering them must follow the CECC’s rollout protocols. “It is very unfair because many frontline medical personnel have not yet gotten vaccinated,” DPP Legislator Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said.
Source:Taipei Times
June 10, 2021 15:56 UTC
Average take-home wages increase 2.77%
Average take-home wages increase 2.77%BEFORE SETBACK: The job market was almost back at a pre-COVID-19 level before a new virus outbreak, officials said, postponing the release of data for last monthBy Crystal Hsu / Staff reporterAverage monthly take-home wages in April gained 2.77 percent from a year earlier to NT$43,190, while total wages — including overtime and performance-based compensation — grew 4.27 percent to NT$49,930, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said yesterday, attributing the trend to an improving economy. Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics Deputy Director Chen Hui-hsin speaks at an online news conference in Taipei yesterday. Major listed companies from different sectors posted record revenues last month, lending support to steady advances in monthly wages. Employees at airline companies enjoyed the highest average take-home pay of NT$74,981 per month, followed by workers at electricity and gas suppliers at NT$65,192, and employees in the financial and insurance industries at NT$63,884, DGBAS data showed. For the first four months of this year, regular monthly wages on average increased 2.16 percent year-on-year to NT$43,085, while total compensations gained 2.69 percent to NT$62,628, the agency said.
Source:Taipei Times
June 10, 2021 15:56 UTC
Tax revenue soars on strong economy
Tax revenue soars on strong economyLOOKING AHEAD: Many local firms posted profit growth this year on the back of strong demand and the expectation that the COVID-19 pandemic would abate worldwideBy Crystal Hsu / Staff reporterThe national treasury last month collected NT$293.2 billion (US$10.58 billion) in tax revenue, an increase of 28.5 percent from a year earlier, as all tax categories posted strong gains on the back of economic improvement, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. Corporate income tax revenue soared 52.3 percent to NT$21.6 billion, while personal income tax revenue increased 17.8 percent to NT$29.4 billion, the ministry’s monthly report showed. Business tax revenue increased 19 percent to NT$85.5 billion, while sales tax revenue jumped 36 percent to NT$17 billion, the ministry said. Securities transaction tax revenue grew more than twofold to NT$29.4 billion as daily turnover spiked to a record NT$578.1 billion, Chen said. Land increment tax revenue increased 25.3 percent to NT$10.9 billion, as the number of taxable cases rose 32.3 percent to 64,525, Chen said.
Source:Taipei Times
June 10, 2021 15:56 UTC
CECC reports 263 local virus cases and 28 deaths
CECC reports 263 local virus cases and 28 deathsBy Sherry Hsiao / Staff reporterThe Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday reported 263 domestic cases of COVID-19, three imported cases and 28 deaths. Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung speaks at the Central Epidemic Command Center’s daily news conference in Taipei yesterday. Photo: Yang Yuan-ting, Taipei TimesNew Taipei City had the most local infections, with 112 cases, followed by 58 in Taipei and 43 in Miaoli County, it said. As of yesterday, Taiwan had recorded 12,222 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 1,152 imported and 11,017 domestic cases, with 361 deaths, CECC data showed. In related news, 10 negative pressure isolation units from Japan arrived in Taiwan yesterday evening on a China Airlines (中華航空) cargo flight.
Source:Taipei Times
June 10, 2021 15:56 UTC
Taiwanese go player attains top rank in Japan
Taiwanese go player attains top rank in JapanWINNING HAND: Hsu Chia-yuan, 23, was on Monday upgraded to ninth dan for holding two of Japan’s seven professional go titlesBy Lin Tsuei-yi and William Hetherington / Staff reporter in Tokyo, with staff writerProfessional go player Hsu Chia-yuan (許家元) was on Monday conferred the title of ninth dan — the highest professional ranking — at a ceremony in Tokyo. Taiwanese professional go player Hsu Chia-yuan holds his ninth dan certificate at a ceremony in Tokyo on Monday after winning the 59th Judan competition in April. Hsu had been given the rank of eighth dan after his Gosei win, but was upgraded to ninth dan on Monday for holding two of the seven professional go titles in Japan. Hsu, who began his professional go career in 2013, became the third-fastest player in Japan to reach the rank of ninth dan, behind Shibano Toramaru and Yuta Iyama. Hsu challenged Toramaru in the Judan competition, winning three out of five matches to claim the title.
Source:Taipei Times
June 09, 2021 15:56 UTC
What a relief
Wanhua, home to the Ximending (西門町) shopping area, is usually one of the most visited parts of Taipei. However, people have been avoiding the district since last month, when a COVID-19 outbreak was discovered there. Now, only local residents can be seen on the streets of Wanhua and they pass by quickly without entering the shops, Taipei Business District and Industrial Confederation chairman Hung Wen-ho (洪文和) said. “Most businesses have shuttered up. Only aBy Yang Hsin-hui and William Hetherington
Source:Taipei Times
June 09, 2021 15:56 UTC
COVID-19: Official probed over misinformation
COVID-19: Official probed over misinformationLOST IN TRANSLATION? Hsinchu County Deputy Commissioner Chen Chien-hsien of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), center left, presents a certificate of appreciation on May 26. They even tried to falsely accuse the foreign minister of a country friendly to Taiwan,” Kuan said. I urge the KMT chairman to apologize to the public and to Japan’s foreign minister. Or do they want people to see that the KMT have sunk to such unethical, low moral standards?” Kuan said.
Source:Taipei Times
June 09, 2021 15:56 UTC
Clinic to be fined over shots program
Clinic to be fined over shots programPRIORITY GROUPS: A line of people were waiting at the Good Liver Clinic, apparently to get shots, while the CECC announced more priority groups for jabsBy Lee I-chia and Jonathan Chin / Staff reporter, with staff writerThe Taipei-based Good Liver Clinic is to be fined NT$2 million (US$72,028) after giving free COVID-19 vaccine shots to people not in groups eligible to receive them, Taipei Deputy Mayor Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) said yesterday. The Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper) on Tuesday in an exclusive story citing an anonymous tip reported that a Taipei clinic was doling out unused vaccines. Vaccine production, storage and logistics personnel have also been added to the second priority group, Chen said. “The major changes to the list are the fifth and sixth priority groups,” Chen said. Only about 2,000 people are in the fourth priority group, mainly diplomats, athletes or contestants representing Taiwan.
Source:Taipei Times
June 09, 2021 15:56 UTC
Food and beverage sales down 60%: survey
Food and beverage sales down 60%: surveyStaff writer, with CNAThe government’s tightened restrictions to control a domestic COVID-19 outbreak have reduced sales in the local food and beverage industry by more than 60 percent, an iChef Co Ltd (資廚管理顧問) survey said yesterday. The survey covered more than 7,000 restaurants and food stalls nationwide to show the effect the restrictions have had on the sector, iChef said. Under the level 3 alert, restaurants and food stalls can provide only takeout services, while on-site dining is not allowed. In the first three weeks of the level 3 alert, takeout and food delivery accounted for more than 70 percent of the industry’s total sales. In the first, second and third week of the level 3 alert, sales from food delivery services rose 36 percent, 48 percent and 41 percent respectively, Chen said.
Source:Taipei Times
June 09, 2021 15:56 UTC
TSMC increases planned payout due to raised earnings
That represents a payout ratio of about 51 percent based on its earnings per share of NT$5.39 in the first three months of this year. TSMC said that its board of directors approved the cash dividend distribution yesterday. A new Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co facility is pictured in the Southern Taiwan Science Park in Tainan on Jan. 25. The board yesterday approved postponing its annual shareholders’ meeting until July 26. The board yesterday also approved the promotion of Jonathan Lee (李俊賢) to vice president.
Source:Taipei Times
June 09, 2021 15:56 UTC