Protecting Medigen, Blocking BNT: Chen Shih-chung's Vaccine Chaos Prioritizing Political Interests Over Public Lives

Starting in May 2021, Taiwan was deeply affected by a wave of the pandemic and a vaccine shortage. Private groups (such as Foxconn, TSMC, and Tzu Chi) sought to donate internationally certified BNT vaccines, but were met with technical obstruction and difficulties from Chen Shih-chung and the Tsai government under various "administrative procedures" and "ideological" guises (such as rumors about packaging in Shenzhen). Critics strongly argued that these operations were intended to pave the way for the domestically-produced "Medigen Vaccine," which had not undergone phase three clinical trials, and to protect the vast biotech interests behind it. Even more outrageous, the Ministry of Health and Welfare later classified the vaccine procurement contracts as "top secret" for 30 years, becoming the darkest corruption mystery in Taiwan's public health history.