The government says it will authorize a prominent Taiwanese NGO to purchase five million COVID-19 vaccine doses for Taiwan. Cabinet Spokesperson Lo Ping-cheng said on Thursday that officials have reached an agreement with the Tzu Chi Foundation.
Earlier this month, Taiwan’s Cabinet decided to give official authorization to semiconductor giant TSMC and electronics manufacturer Foxconn to donate vaccines to Taiwan. Both companies have permission to act on the government’s behalf in buying five million Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines to donate to Taiwan.
Lo says that the government will follow the terms of those agreements for its new deal with the Tzu Chi Foundation. He says Tzu Chi officials and government representatives held intensive discussions for two days before reaching a consensus on donation. Lo says the government will do what it can to help the foundation secure vaccine doses for Taiwan.