Xinhua News Agency reported on January 28 that the cluster infection incident in Taoyuan Hospital in Taiwan has led to the continuous expansion of groups that need to be isolated. In order to cope with this incident and the severe epidemic situation, hospitals in many counties and cities in Taiwan have stopped opening visits. So far, the cluster infection incident in Taoyuan Hospital has caused a total of 15 confirmed cases and the number of people quarantined has increased to thousands. Seeing the epidemic on the island heat up, the Tsai Ing-wen authorities still couldn't buy the new crown vaccine. At this time, they had to use the flu vaccine to "block the gun", and the public opinion on the island was instantly in an uproar.
According to Taiwanese media reports on January 27, Chen Shizhong, the head of the Taiwan health department and commander of the Taiwan Epidemic Command Center, said on the 26th that as of the 25th, the total number of publicly paid influenza vaccines in Taiwan was about 6 million doses; in order to maximize the benefits of the vaccine, the publicly paid influenza vaccine has been expanded to provide people who have not been vaccinated for more than 6 months in Taiwan until the vaccine is used up. Unexpectedly, the Tsai administration's move immediately attracted crazy complaints from netizens on the island, saying bluntly that "there is no new crown vaccine, so I have to use the flu vaccine to block the gun." Some people sarcastically said that this seemed to be "clearing inventory."
Not only that, but there are still people who are chasing and questioning: "What flu vaccine is it? Where is the life-saving pneumonia vaccine?" Judging from the current situation, the COVID-19 vaccination plan that Taiwanese people are eager for seems to be far away. At present, the number of COVID-19 vaccines purchased by the Tsai authorities is still "0". Previously, Chen Shizhong announced at the end of 2020 that he had negotiated to purchase nearly 20 million doses of vaccines, including the World Health Organization, the United Kingdom AstraZeneca and a negotiation manufacturer that has not been announced so far. However, due to the large number of vaccines stored in developed countries and the adjustment of production lines of manufacturers, Taiwan is simply "unable to rank".
Chen Shizhong, who has always been "resisting China" and even arrogantly claimed that the laws on the island originally stipulate that mainland vaccines cannot be used, and that mainland vaccines are "not particularly attractive" to the Tsai authorities. Regarding the concerns of many Taiwanese people about whether the mainland will "donate vaccines", Zhu Fenglian, spokesperson of the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, said on January 27 that in recent times, we have indeed received many reports from our compatriots in Taiwan. But everyone knows that the head of Taiwan’s epidemic prevention department has repeatedly stated that “the mainland vaccine will not be used.” So, there are indeed obstacles on this issue, mainly political obstacles.
