Many people in TW might never have the “better option”. The only reason there was so much vaccine hesitancy was that people thought TW was immune to the pandemic. Now that this belief has been shattered, you’re already seeing that there’s plenty of takers for the AZ vaccine.
This was an illusion. We all hoped that TW would continue to keep the virus out, but anyone with an IQ over the melting point of water who was being honest with himself knew this was only a hope and not realistic the longer the pandemic went on.
Again, the risk was not 0, and the “different product” isn’t available in the TW market so it’s a moot point.
Not pursuing vaccination when the rest of the world scrambled to do so reveals a bit of hubris. Somehow you think you are forever immune to what has already engulfed other countries?
Taiwan did a pretty good job buying time, but it is truly unfortunate this time to prepare was taken for granted by those who choose not be vaccinated when a vaccine was available.
So it is one thing to learn from this and act responsibly to get vaccinated as soon as possible. However, people compound their mistake by delaying vaccination so they get a particular brand. Doubling down on the hubris makes one a bad person.
Let’s put it this way. If AZ is good enough for the Queen of England, it is good enough for everyone else.
It was a gamble and mistake. If TW had ordered sufficient vaccine to cover the entire population from the major international producers, which is what other countries did, the situation in TW today would be a lot different.
Not only haven’t the domestic vaccines passed Phase III trials, protein subunit vaccines are among the more complex to produce, which also isn’t ideal.
I still think the MIT vaccines are a wildcard as far as vaccine hesitancy is concerned because of the Phase III issue and the fact that no other protein subunit vaccine has been approved yet. If the official numbers continue to paint a slow burn picture of the outbreak in TW I could easily see people not rushing to get the domestic vaccines.
You don’t appear to understand what the word “pandemic” means.
You’ve said nothing to contradict my point that people fussing about brands slowed down vaccination in Taiwan, which is a real problem. It’s a problem you contribute to by continuing to care about what brand is being donated to Taiwan. What matters here is quantity, not type, to get the population vaccinated ASAP.
I’m aware that the US didn’t go through the process of approving AZ. They didn’t need to, since they already had plenty of vaccines. This is totally irrelevant to Taiwan’s situation.
Or if I point out the politics of selfishly scrambling for vaccines when supply is limited and pretty much every other country in the world needed them more?
Huh? The job of a government is to look out for its citizens (and residents). That’s the priority. Charity to others comes after.
If you really believe this line of thinking, why is TW scrambling for vaccine now? We only have 300-500 odd cases a day so maybe TW should vaccinate Africa first?
When there was no domestic transmission, it could be argued that the best thing for Taiwanese citizens is to take advantage of the opportunity to build soft power so that in the future there will still be Taiwanese citizens.
Perhaps you haven’t heard, but now there is community transmissions which changes the calculus.
That’s an argument, but I don’t think it works politically for the domestic audience.
That’s Confucianist’s political philosophy. Taiwan politics is heavily based on Anglo-capitalist republican system. So the main goal is to maintain check and balance, to create opportunities for pursuing happiness—but not to guarantee every citizen with happiness.
“The government will look after you” is so Red Book.
How was TW building soft power? It had no vaccines! Are you really suggesting that TW, by not securing an adequate supply of vaccine from international producers, was standing aside so that other countries would get it instead, and that they would then thank TW for not ordering vaccine?
This isn’t even a stretch. It’s just absurd.
And the fatal mistake the people in charge made was that they got overconfident and were unprepared for the eventuality that the virus could get in and cause community transmission.
China propaganda unsure how to react to the senators arriving on a C-17
Three US senators arrived in the island of Taiwan on Sunday morning in a whirlwind visit. They took a military transport aircraft, a US Air Force C-17 Globemaster III, instead of a civilian plane that normally performs such tasks, which has received extra attention. Undoubtedly, the US and island of Taiwan are making further provocations with salami-slicing tactics which they have designed for this provocation.
I’m not suggesting the absurd thing you have written, no. To answer your question, I suggest you google “taiwan can help” and look at some of the results.
Fair enough, they never should have made it so easy for the airline staff to infect the population. You’ll get no argument from me there. I spent 3 weeks in quarantine (KHH rules) followed by 6 weeks of freedom before this mess because they had three days of quarantine. Ridiculous.
