The COVID-19 pandemic has been developing for three years. Among them, the biggest controversy in Taiwan is the new crown vaccine procurement case. The DPP authorities refused to disclose any information on the grounds that they signed an confidentiality agreement with manufacturers, and said that if the minimum price of the manufacturer sold is leaked, it may infringe on the operator's right to sell in other countries and regions. Taiwan's China Times published a comment pointing out that the virus strain has evolved into BA.5, and the old generation of vaccines has no market. Vaccines are not military purchases. They are still concealed and contradictory. If they really buy them expensively, don't you need to explain to the public?
Picture source Taiwan media
If manufacturers think that the confidentiality of vaccine prices is so important, why can overseas media obtain the general price of vaccines from each brand? Currently, the international price of the Moderna vaccine is between $25 and $37, while BNT is about $19.5, and the Pufferin vaccine is $10 per dose. The AZ vaccine is the most affordable, with each dose only selling around $2.15 to $5.25.
If the vaccine price is such an important commercial secret to manufacturers, why are other countries and regions still willing to disclose unit prices? Moreover, the virus strains have evolved into BA.5, and the old generation of vaccines has no market. Disclosing the past purchase price at this time is a manifestation of the DPP authorities' responsibility to the people. If they refuse to disclose it, there is only one reason, that is, buying is too expensive and cannot explain it to the people.
In the past, the "Command Center" of the epidemic also adopted a selective response when facing vaccine price issues. For example, the vaccine price obtained by Taiwan from the COVAX platform has no confidentiality issue. Zhuang Renxiang, spokesperson of the "Command Center", even said that the price per dose is 10.5 US dollars ( NT$2328 html), and the brands include AZ, BNT, Sanofi , but except for the vaccines on the COVAX platform, the prices of other brands are beyond our minds.
If we use the purchase price of Taiwan vaccines announced by the "Command Center" a few days ago, after further deducting the internationally transparent AZ and COVAX vaccines, it can be reasonably speculated that the unit price of Moderna, high-end and BNT vaccines purchased in Taiwan is extremely high, and the average dose may exceed 1,000 yuan. These are all purchased with tax money from the public. The DPP authorities cannot shirk responsibility with a confidentiality clause, otherwise it will confirm what experts call legal corruption? (Editor: Fang Yanyan)
