German biotechnology company BioNTech says it is still planning to provide Taiwan with doses of its COVID-19 vaccine. That comes only a day after Taiwanese Health Minister Chen Shih-chung said that a deal with the company for five million doses had collapsed in December due to Chinese interference.
In a statement sent to Reuters, BioNTech says it is “committed to help bringing an end to the pandemic for people across the world”. It says the company “intend[s] to supply Taiwan with our vaccine as part of this global commitment”. However, the statement does not clarify how many doses BioNTech will supply to Taiwan, or when they will arrive. In that regard, the company says “discussions are ongoing and BioNTech will provide an update”.
Health Minister Chen Shih-chung said yesterday that Taiwan was on the verge of signing a deal for five million doses of the vaccine at the end of last year. He says authorities had even finished preparing a press release to announce the purchase. But the deal failed at the final stage after China received news of the upcoming agreement.
BioNTech has granted authorization to Chinese company Fosun Pharma to act as its agent in the greater China region, including in Taiwan. In all other regions, the US pharmaceutical company Pfizer is responsible for distribution.