Germany's BioNTech said Thursday it still intends to provide Taiwan with coronavirus vaccine doses after the island's health chief warned "political pressure" had scuppered a deal with the company.

Taiwanese health minister Chen Shih-chung said Wednesday that negotiations with the German firm to acquire five million Pfizer/BioNTech shots fell through in December "because someone doesn't want Taiwan to be too happy".

His comments raised concerns China might be trying to hinder Taiwan's inoculation drive.

Authoritarian Beijing regards democratic and self-ruled Taiwan as its own territory and tries to keep the island diplomatically isolated -- including keeping it locked out of the World Health Organization.

In a statement on Thursday, BioNTech said discussions to supply Taiwan with doses were still ongoing.

"BioNTech is committed to help bringing an end to the pandemic for people across the world and we intend to supply Taiwan with our vaccine as part of this global commitment," it said.

The brief statement did not address Chen's comments or explain why the December deal did not materialise.

BioNTech has struck a deal with the Shanghai-based Fosun Pharmaceutical Group to bring the vaccine to China, including Taiwan.

Beijing has a long history of pressuring both Chinese and international companies when it wants to punish Taiwan.

There has been no comment on Chen's remarks in China during the annual lunar new year break. Foson has also not responded to requests for comment.

Taiwan has survived the pandemic largely unscathed -- with fewer than 940 confirmed cases and nine deaths so far -- by closing its borders early, imposing strict quarantine measures and rolling out effective tracing.

But it has struggled to locate adequate vaccine supplies and only recently announced a supply of five million doses by American pharmaceutical giant Moderna and 200,000 doses of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine via COVAX.

Hong Kong fast tracks China's Sinovac vaccine approval
Hong Kong (AFP) Feb 18, 2021 - Hong Kong's government on Thursday approved the Chinese-made Sinovac coronavirus vaccine for emergency use after a panel of experts fast-tracked its recommendation despite the drug's comparatively low efficacy.

"The first batch of one million jabs of Sinovac vaccines will arrive in Hong Kong soon," the government statement said.

Local media reported that the first vaccinations could arrive as soon as Friday, finally kicking off the financial hub's delayed inoculation drive.

But officials may face an uphill task persuading residents to take Sinovac's shots in a city where public distrust of Chinese authorities runs deep.

On Tuesday, a government advisory panel unanimously supported Sinovac saying the benefits of authorising its use outweighed the risks.

Unlike rival vaccines such as those from Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna and AstraZeneca, SinoVac has yet to submit its third phase clinical trial data to medical journals for peer review.

Sinovac has been exempted from that hurdle by Hong Kong officials and told they could instead give the information directly to the experts.

The advisory panel said it had received adequate data from the company.

That data, the panel said, showed an efficacy rate of 62.3 percent when two doses are administered 28 days apart.

Late-stage trials in Brazil had shown an efficacy rate of just above 50 percent -- the threshold the World Health Organization uses to decide if a vaccine is worth using.

The efficacy rates for the competitor vaccines are also higher -- BioNTech has confirmed a 95 percent protection rate when two shots are administered.

Hong Kong's health authorities have previously approved BioNTech's vaccine. RTHK reported on Thursday that the first BioNTech shots are expected to arrive in the city next week.

Related Links
Epidemics on Earth - Bird Flu, HIV/AIDS, Ebola

Tweet

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

Iraq detects new UK-based strain, reimposes partial lockdown
Baghdad (AFP) Feb 15, 2021
Iraq will re-impose partial lockdown measures until early March after detecting a new strain of the coronavirus, including among children, its health minister announced on Monday. "Unfortunately, government labs showed genetic mutations in the Covid-19 strain, detecting the new fast-spreading strain in Iraq," Hassan al-Tamimi told reporters. He referred to the strain as the one "which spread in the UK," and said it had been detected in some Iraqi children, but did not give a total number of peo ... read more