Exactly. You can’t buy what’s simply not there.
Well you should be at the front of the queue though.
But I am in full agreement that the lack of supply is the real problem most of the world is facing. There’s no quick answer to that. But towards the end of the year we should be awash with vaccines with the US and UK pretty much fully vaccinated by Sept and lots of vaccines coming on stream. Then it will be a matter of the local vaccination programs …
Taiwan’s Olympic-bound athletes are now getting vaccinated.
They were further down the priority list but have evidently been bumped up. A sign of further flexibility as vaccinations move forward?
Guy
Or to avoid getting the Chinese jab?
Remember the Olympic Commitee made a deal with the devil, eh, Sinovac?
The article linked above made it clear that neither Taiwan nor Japan Olympic athletes will be taking the PRC vaccine offered by the Olympic committee, as neither country has approved it.
Guy
The daughter of one of my students works in a hospital. That student told me today that the hospital is offering the employees a $6,000 “bonus” to get the AZ jab.
That’s the countries but what if the Olympic Commitee says you gotta be vaccinated or can’t play? They are also in China’s pocket. That they even signed the deal even if the host country has not approved the vaccines is very telling.
I doubt they will block Japan’s Olympic athletes.
Guy
But what about the rest? Including Taiwan. This can get ugly.
The safety of the athletes was already in question in the middle of a pandemic. They can use the vaccine or no game argument.
Anyways, back on topic…
Guy
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To those of you insisting Taiwan could have thrown money to buy more vaccines, please note the daily complaints and innuendo by blue lawmakers insisting the green administration overpaid for AZ vaccines…
Not that we can doubt the motivation behind their complaints. 
Even if some of these lawmakers are annoying, it’s possible that they might actually be right here. 
Look, I get it that the authorities in Taiwan have not treated vaccines as the sole (or even the most important) way to deal with this pandemic.
I also get the “vaccine security” questions they must be asking, just as countries in the west have been asking questions about their (in)abilities to manufacture basic PPE such as masks and so on. The authorities here would, in short, obviously prefer Taiwan to be able to manufacture—and, one presumes, also export—its own vaccines.
This may indeed come to pass, but for now it does look like they are hoping for a moonshot.
Guy
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The question you should be asking as a reporter is what “entity” did the Taiwan government pay the money through for those AZ vaccines?
A middle-man perhaps?
If so, that is why DPP admin overpaid for the vaccines.
The odor could smell like e t t e y a F a L
But local media is like any media around the world. Zero investigative skills in the new Internet age.
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If we had overpaid like Israel, we’d be getting a lot. We can’t have it both ways when you guys say we did not pay enough.
If we had to go through a middle man it is because we have a big enemy in the international arena that is constantly blocking our efforts.
We are a developed country and hence billed as such.
Taiwan has signed contracts. But just yesterday there was discussion in the EU to keep all vaccine production due to the escalating situation. It does not go good with the people that they export 70%. Vaccines are a rare commodity these days. There is simply not enough for all.
Taiwan apparently hit a bottleneck with Pfizer—German guys who have assigned PRC guys to “handle” this region including Taiwan.
I’d be on the phone with the Moderna guys every week if not every day. 
Guy
No, the over-payment is not for the “number of vaccines”, but due to someone taking a cut. But hey, don’t want to know who that person would be, would we?
Has nothing to do with China nor politics.
Hey-jean.
I’ll just leave it at that, and speak no more of this issue.
Yep, narrative is green is bad and corrupt. Only China and it’s loyal servants can save us.
Yep, let’s focus on science and medicine.
No. It’s not that green is bad and corrupt. C’mon. What planet you live on?
All politicians are corrupt in one way or another.
Don’t just think the shit flows down one [blue] side of the political aisle.
That’s a horse blinder view.
For me, I dislike both left and right politicians. They only have 1 goal: get re-elected. They don’t want to live in the real world like the voters do.
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I don’t care if they overpaid.
Overlaying would be just fine if we had any actual vaccines ! I would happily pay for my own vaccine so then how is that overpaying ?
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