TAIPEI: Taiwan does not believe China is sincere in offering it much-needed Covid-19 vaccines and thinks it is working to prevent the island from getting shots for political reasons as infections surge, officials briefed on the matter told Reuters.
TAIPEI, May 27 ― Taiwan does not believe China is sincere in offering it much needed Covid-19 vaccines and thinks it is working to prevent the island from getting shots for political reasons as infections surge, officials briefed on the matter told Reuters. China and Taiwan have exchanged barbs.
Taiwan takes measures after new coronavirus outbreak
But the Oxford vaccine s rare side effects, such as blood-clotting, have been cited as one of the reasons why many Taiwanese were hesitant about receiving the vaccine.
According to one opinion poll conducted by the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy in April, only 29% of the respondents above the age of 20 were willing to take the AstraZeneca vaccine while 66% of the respondents said they weren t willing to take the vaccine.
Due to the limited number of shots available, Taiwan has also struggled to enhance its overall vaccination rate amid its worst community outbreak since the start of the pandemic last year.
Taiwan does not believe that China is sincere in offering it COVID-19 vaccines and thinks it is working to prevent the nation from getting shots for political reasons, officials briefed on the matter told reporters.
Taiwan and China have embarked on a war of words about vaccines, as the medical system in Taiwan faces pressure amid an outbreak with only about 1 percent of the population of more than 23 million vaccinated.
Taiwan says that China blocked it from getting vaccines produced by Germany’s BioNTech, while China says it is happy to send a supply of that vaccine via its Chinese sales
The accusation against the Chinese mainland of blocking Taiwan's deal to buy vaccines from the German BioNTech is groundless, Zhu Fenglian, a spokeswoman for the State Council's Taiwan Affairs Office, said on Thursday.