I heard the same about Italy, where Pfizer/Moderna are delivered round the clock, while AZ shipments are always delayed.
I guess AZ is just not able to keep up with the pace, also considering that at least for now it’s the only “non-profit” vaccine that many countries that cannot afford US-made mRNA shots and their temperature requirements are waiting for.
Pretty sure J&J is non-profit for now as well. They said they will start increasing their prices once COVID is not a pandemic anymore though.
AZ seem to be unable to produce the volumes that were being spruiked months ago, Australia has an AZ facility as well, and they are behind, also something in the news last week where the EU is giving them hell for failing to supply the volumes promised in time. Their image is in tatters somewhat with the Blood Clot dramas as well as the “Deaths after Vaccination” stories, most of which seem to be unrelated.
I posted a recent Guardian article (via the Taipei Times) about this reputation issue over in the Vaccine Discussion thread. If you have time, it’s worth a read.
Guy
Reuters reports have implied that TSMC is using its advantage as a chipmaker to bargain for vaccine supplies amid the global chip shortage.
I think it’s a near certainty that TSMC did use “its advantage as a chipmaker” for better bargaining. Good. Win for TSMC. Win for the current administration in Taiwan (I think huge win if TSMC’s order goes through but Hon Hai’s doesn’t, or even if TSMC is first to make a deal go through). Win for US automakers. Win for the Biden administration. I believe some type of deal is in the works. Awesome.
晶片換疫苗？台積電：遞件洽購捐贈BNT疫苗、沒買美疫苗 - 自由財經 TSMC denied this btw, they said they are focused on the BNT purchase and not looking to buy American vaccines.
The conflicting reports are confusing as hell. I thought the first report by Reuters at least would be reliable. Not sure now. I guess we’ll find out eventually. If the reports are true, I hope the purchase comes soon.
Ok big development, but also could be bullshit as Taiwan media makes stuff up. On 29 Chen said that both TSMC and Foxconn are very satisfied with the developments of the BNT deal.
The writer said that the German government have got involved and questioned the legality of the Shanghi FOSUN deal, because under German law, to sell vaccines the German government needs authorisation from the government being sold to.
The writer also says that Beijing has changed its stance on the BNT seeing that Taiwan is slowly getting other vaccines and the leverage from holding off the BNT has dimished. They are happy with giving the embarrassment that the Tsai government couldn’t manage it but citizen groups and intermediaries could.
Writer expects to arrive August or September
If that happens, then basically everyone gets what they want (Beijing tries to humiliate Tsai; Tsai shows she doesn’t back down; Taiwan nationalists confirm belief that Beijing is a terrible snake in the weeds; Terry Guo and TSMC gain a lot of face; etc).
From my perspective, if we get all those extra mRNA vaccines, great for everyone!
Guy
Quality issues. Impurities in the vaccine.
The mix-and-match with J&J in that terrible Baltimore factory in the US didn’t help with the quality control reputation. Eventually AZ was tossed out of that factory . . .
Guy
The plot thickens… That would be pure evil, though. I can’t imagine the CCP would ever do something bad to their poor compatriots in Taiwan suffering under democratic yoke.
But I can see them backing off when Japan and the US are stepping up to help the people of Taiwan with abundant vaccines.
PS Thank you Japan and the US for your help!
Guy
And Lithuania.
PS: there is Lithuanian beer available at Hi Life if anyone feels like showing gratitude 
I think China really misplayed their hand in this. Because they would not relent on the Fosun Greater China idea, the very pro-Taiwanese TSMC got into the act, then Japan and the US joined forces to supply vaccines. There was also a lot of bad press related to how China was playing politics with this situation. If they backed off at the beginning, the current administration in Taiwan would have looked very bad with Hon Hai saving the day. It amazes me at how bad China is at this game. I think they can’t help it since they are so focused on wanting to screw over Taiwan that they can’t think two or three moves into the future.
I never perceived TSMC as “very pro-Taiwanese”.
Why do you see them that way? Is that just in comparison to Hon Hai, in the sense that TSMC executives aren’t running for KMT positions?
Bringing TSMC into the picture was Tsai’s attempt to balance the books.
If it works, it’s kind of a genius move. 
Guy
There seems to be a real reluctance to move any operations to China by TSMC. Maybe that’s just because in IP theft, though. And to be honest, it’s simply because I keep hearing things like this:
I would welcome input from others more knowledgeable.
TSMC has publicly stated their reason for concentrating fabs in Taiwan as being the ability to deploy R&D and key skilled engineering teams easily across the various fabs. When rolling out a new technology node, its very effective to have the R&D so close to production.
My experience working at TSMC was that executives really believe that public statement.
They also had bad experience with the performance of their fabs outside Taiwan.
You could ask Micron about that, they have a few law suites running.