SECURITY: Taiwan has lagged other nations, such as the US and the UK, in vaccine development and might have limited access to foreign drugs, Chiang Wan-an said

Taipei Times
Date: Aug 01, 2020
By: Sean Lin / Staff reporter

Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) yesterday called on the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) administration to allocate more funds toward vaccine development in its proposed second special budget for COVID-19, saying the nation might not be able to secure enough vaccines from foreign developers.

The Executive Yuan last week unveiled its proposed second special budget of NT$210 billion (US$7.12 billion) for COVID-19 prevention and economic revitalization, which includes NT$500 million earmarked as bonuses or rewards for vaccine developers, Chiang told a news conference in Taipei.

The KMT caucus had proposed such an incentive in its draft budget proposal in February, but the DPP caucus had rejected it, before adopting it in the Executive Yuan proposal, he said.

Had the DPP accepted the KMT’s proposal at the time, it would have accelerated the nation’s vaccine development efforts, which are lagging behind the UK, US and EU, he said.
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