With our contract to purchase some 36 million doses of Moderna, the answer is “no.”
Guy
Excellent. Is that contract is directly with the vaccine companies now, not that third party BS we had before?
I am a bit out of the loop on covid politics.
No problem! We have dealt directly with Moderna, and no issues there.
The earlier trouble arouse when the government attempted to deal directly with BNT in Germany, a company which had assigned Taiwan distribution rights to Shanghai Fosun, leading to an unhappy limbo situation as we cannot legally import pharmaceuticals from the PRC. If you want the backstory and the debates around it, there is a whole thread on it:
Guy
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Cheers for clarification. when that happened I checked out of the politics because it wasa absurd to the point of actual anger. Happy to hear it was just a German problem 
Does anyone have any thoughts on the updated (bivalent) vaccine being denied to people who haven’t taken a “primary series” of outdated/nonfunctional drugs?
C’mon @finley, stop beating around the bush and tell us what you really think!
Especially about boosters, as this is the topic of this thread.
Guy
I was asking why you think that particular jab is only being given as a “booster”, not a standalone vaccination. Are you claiming that it won’t work if you haven’t had 3 or 4 previous shots?
On it.
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Done. Actually Taiwan was already in there, just someone used a wrong character - so it didn’t show up on the map.
The separate list in the article is based on a PDF that doesn’t mention Taiwan, so I didn’t add Taiwan.
Taiwan’s receipt of COVAX vaccines is officially mentioned in later documents, though - see for example by the WHO here.
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Is that only in Taiwan? I haven’t heard any reasoning for that.
It seems that the initial approval of this vaccine in the UK was for its use as a booster, not for a primary series. Based on what I can find, Taiwan seems to be following the UK in this regard.
EDIT: This seems to be the case in Canada too:
Moderna Spikevax COVID-19 vaccines
All COVID-19 vaccines authorized in Canada are proven safe, effective and of high quality.
Product names: Moderna Spikevax® COVID-19 vaccine and Moderna Spikevax® Bivalent COVID-19 vaccine (Original and Omicron B.1.1.529 (BA.1))
Manufacturer: ModernaTX, Inc.
Type: mRNA
Status: Approved by Health Canada
Approved for: Primary series in individuals age 6 months and older, or as a booster dose in individuals age 18 years and older (Moderna Spikevax® COVID-19 vaccine)
As a booster dose in individuals age 18 years and older (Moderna Spikevax® Bivalent COVID-19 vaccine)
Guy
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@finley @BigDave OK, now I have a sense why, after looking at the Health Canada page linked above.
As some forumosans will recall, use of the original Moderna shot as a booster relied on a half dose (50 micrograms) rather than the full dose (100 micrograms) of the vaccine used in the primary series for adults 18 and older.
Moderna’s bivalent shot—which is what we are discussing here—comes only in a 50 microgram dose. It was requested and designed to be booster strength for adults, and hence this is how it is approved to be used.
Guy
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Interesting. Wonder what the reasoning was there, given that everyone (including Moderna) is aware that the legacy vaccines no longer do anything useful, if indeed they ever did.
Perhaps they perceive that their only possible market would be the people who already acceded to the “primary series” and that nobody else would be interested.
Yes I think it is fair to say that folks in the West who are not into mRNA vaccines are unlikely to suddenly clamour for them now.
Back to Taiwan: thankfully there are options for such people now, with Novavax in particular in plentiful supply for those who wish to use it.
Guy
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Basically that list is old. And the document it’s based on doesnt mention Taiwan. So… I left it as it is, because sourcing and creating a new list that adds Taiwan there seems too much work for me right now.
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Fair enough
Will Taiwan’s Novavax gamble pay off? 
They are headed for the bin in Oz.
“…of the 51 million Novavax doses purchased by the Commonwealth and 13.3 million delivered, only 218,000 shots have been administered —leaving millions destined for the bin as their expiry date looms.”
I’ve heard that people are still being “encouraged” to take the MRNA vaccines. Someone I know in Ireland told me that she had to jump through a lot of hoops before she was able to get an appointment for Novavax.
I’d be checking the expiration dates on any Moderna spikevaxes shipped to Taiwan as well, particularly if they come from Canada, where their tracking of expired vaccines is apparently a little…ahem… dodgy.
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