Domestic vaccines could be Taiwan’s fastest route to herd immunity. At present, Medigen and United Biomedical are undergoing Phase II trials. So far, most of their recruits are based in Northern Taiwan. Every day, about 100 people come to Taipei Medical University’s Joint Clinical Research Center for a shot or for follow-up.
Vaccine trial participant: They told me all about the procedure and asked if I had any questions. The medical staff gave me very detailed explanations. That gave me some peace of mind.
Here’s how the trials are progressing. Medigen and United Biomedical have already recruited enough participants in the 18 to 64 age group, but both still need more subjects aged 65 and over. Medigen is the closest to its target, needing just about 100 more people to meet reach 740. Medigen expects to reach this goal by the end of March. United Biomedical needs another 770 older adults. As of Tuesday, it only has 124 subjects, meaning there is still a long way to go.
Liu Ming-che, TMU Joint Clinical Research Center head: The screening removes participants with some liver and kidney conditions. So there is a higher chance for older adults to be screened out. They need to screen more people, so it’s harder for them to meet the target.
Meanwhile, experts say that local vaccines won’t be able to compete with foreign brands on the international market until they pass Phase III clinical trials.
Chuang Jen-hsiang, CECC spokesperson: The World Health Organization is compiling an index of the protection offered by each manufacturer’s vaccines. If, in the future, Taiwan’s domestically developed vaccines meet those protection standards, or exceeds them, other countries might accept them as having the same protective effect.
Taiwan has purchased a total of 10 million AstraZeneca vaccine doses, but it’s unclear when future shipments will arrive. This first batch of AZ vaccines is expected to be used up by May. Officials hope that not long afterward, local vaccines will be able to step in.
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