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進入《TAIPEI TIMES》 Taiwan donates Medigen vaccines to Somaliland
Representative to Somaliland Allen Lou, left, and Somaliland Health Minister Hassan Mohamed Ali Gafadhi pose for a photograph at a ceremony at the Egal International Airport in in Hargeisa on Sunday marking Taiwan’s donation of 150,000 doses of its locally developed Medigen COVID-19 vaccine. Photo courtesy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs via CNA
/ Staff writer, with CNA and Reuters
Taiwan’s gift of 150,000 doses of its domestically developed Medigen COVID-19 vaccine has arrived in Somaliland, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday, part of the nation’s renewed pandemic diplomacy push.
Taiwan has donated millions of masks and other goods around the world in what the government has called the “Taiwan can help, Taiwan is helping” program to show that it is a responsible member of the international community, despite being locked out of most global bodies because of China’s objections.
The ministry said the vaccine doses, made by Medigen Vaccine Biologics Corp, arrived in Hargeisa on Sunday and were met at the airport by Somaliland Health Minister Mohamed Ali Gafadhi and Representative to Somaliland Allen Lou （羅震華）.
“On the basis of the shared values of democracy and freedom between Taiwan and Somaliland, our country’s government will continue to steadily strengthen the cooperative relationship between the two sides and jointly fight the global pandemic and defend universal values,” it added.
Somaliland broke away from Somalia in 1991, but has not gained widespread international recognition for its independence. The region has been mostly peaceful, while Somalia has grappled with three decades of civil war.
Taiwan and Somaliland set up representative offices in each other’s capitals in 2020.
The donation was announced in December after Somaliland granted emergency use authorization （EUA） for Medigen, the ministry said.
While no other nation has granted an EUA to Medigen’s vaccine, the Taiwan-made vaccine is undergoing clinical trials in Paraguay, and has also been chosen to take part in the Solidarity Trial Vaccines platform, an international clinical trial platform colaunched by the WHO.
Since the rollout of the Medigen vaccine in Taiwan in August last year, more than 812,000, or 0.34 percent of the country’s population of 23.37 million have received one dose of the vaccine, while 0.31 percent have been fully vaccinated with two doses, data released on Saturday showed.
They include President Tsai Ing-wen （蔡英文） and Vice President William Lai （賴清德）, who both received a third Medigen dose as their booster shot on Jan. 15.
In other news, digital COVID-19 vaccination and test certificates issued by Taiwan and Singapore will now be accepted by authorities in both countries.
The mutual recognition was announced by the Singapore Trade Office in Taipei on Facebook on Friday.
“The authorities in Singapore and Taiwan now recognize and accept each other’s digital COVID-19 vaccination and test certificates. This is a positive step towards the further easing of border measures for travel between Singapore and Taiwan,” the office said.
The ministry said it signified mutual trust and was a further testament to the government’s success in managing the pandemic.
Individuals who hold a COVID-19 vaccination certificate issued by Taiwan can enter and move freely in Singapore provided that they have been inoculated with vaccines authorized by the WHO’s emergency use listing.
Except for Medigen, all of the vaccine brands in use by Taiwan are included on the WHO’s emergency use listing.
Digital COVID-19 certificates issued by Taiwan have been accepted as equivalent to the EU Digital COVID Certificate since Dec. 21, nearly one month after the European Commission began to accept the ones by Singapore, the ministry said.
Travelers arriving in Singapore from Taiwan will only need to undergo a polymerase chain reaction test and will be allowed to enter if the result is negative, the ministry said, adding they will not be subjected to quarantine, although there will be certain rules that need to be followed.
新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES
