為三百萬莫德納孤兒請命 蔡政府不該再消極！
中國國民黨今(16)日召開「為三百萬莫德納孤兒請命 蔡政府不該再消極!」記者會，由文傳會主委王育敏、副主委王鴻薇、立法委員洪孟楷共同召開。其中北北基桃計程車駕駛，如今再次成為莫德納孤兒，新北市計程車客運商業同業公會理事長林勝文同運將業者共同出席表達心聲。國民黨指出，國內自2月初向美國莫德納公司訂購505萬劑疫苗迄今，僅到貨150萬劑，到貨率只有29.7%。然而政府始終消極不作為。國人施打到的莫德納多為仰賴美國捐贈，如今打完一劑者，仍有308萬人等不到第二劑。面對莫德納大缺貨，政府如今竟想用高端疫苗來替代第二劑，更引發民眾強烈反彈，籲蔡政府應向莫德納公司積極催貨，勿迫使民眾在疫苗效力遞減壓力下，只能接受混打高端。
國民黨指出，眼看7月2日施打疫苗的計程車駕駛員都已超過指揮中心公告第二劑施打時間，但仍未有第二劑施打相關進度，亦完全不見交通部向指揮中心協調爭取莫德納第二劑，也讓依照交通部專案施打莫德納的三萬五千名計程車駕駛員，都已成為莫德納孤兒。運將業者除了擔憂無法取得足夠保護力，更擔心接下來會讓生計受到直接的影響，因而疾呼相關單位盡速作為。
國民黨質疑，日前外交部長吳釗燮、國安會秘書長顧立雄赴美參加特殊管道對話，為何卻沒有藉機向美國政府、莫德納公司強力推進到貨進度？面對國內迎來第二劑短缺、斷鏈，我國政府對於自己採購的疫苗到貨進度卻漠不關心。國民黨強調，Delta病毒已導致美國接種率較低的年齡層出現疫情急遽惡化情形，年長者本就是容易產生重症族群，在美國因接種率較高，而使總死亡數受到抑制。為防範本土疫情重蹈覆轍，我國亦須盡快提升施打率，不應讓二劑施打時間無限期拉長，影響國民施打疫苗後應得的保護力，更不應讓脆弱族群再次暴露於高風險中。
國民黨表示，比對南韓政府搶購莫德納的積極與效率，蔡政府更顯消極。我國於今年2月初就已向美國莫德納公司簽署505萬劑疫苗供應合約，然而半年過去到貨率仍不達三成，期間面對是否催貨等質疑，政府僅表示不排除再拉長一、二劑間隔時間，絲毫不顧保護力恐下降。蔡英文總統雖表示會全力催促、指揮官陳時中也說任何作為都願意做，但距最後一次到貨時間8/15已過去一個月，政府的實際作為到底在哪裡？
反觀，8月初莫德納公司原定向南韓供貨850萬劑疫苗，南韓政府於8/9知悉到貨量將只有一半時，韓國當局即刻計畫派代表團赴美協商，8/13派出4位官員前往莫德納位於美國總公司強烈抗議後，莫德納公司致歉並承諾在9月第一週前交付700萬劑疫苗，至9/7莫德納公司就已交付815萬劑疫苗，到貨率達95.88%，也遠超過9月首週承諾提供的數量，南韓政府在短短不到一個月的時間內，就催貨近乎百分百。國民黨指出，南韓赴美催貨是否有效，明眼人皆知。
國民黨強調，全球完整接種人口平均為30.3%，美國為54.4%、日本為51.1%、南韓為38.8%，而我國疫苗完整接種比例卻僅有4.4%，排在全球倒數。南韓政府對於到貨只有五成就急速表達強烈不滿，對照蔡政府對於到貨不到三成的消極不作為，要如何加速全民接種？尤其，國際間對於供貨不穩，是否進行混打皆尚未有明確指引，南韓甚至明確表示暫不考慮混打，我國政府更不應搶先剝奪國民的疫苗選擇權。昨日指揮中心證實已經在進行莫德納混打高端的臨床實驗，更引發民眾強烈反彈，質疑政府是在強迫施打民眾消化超出需求的訂單量，讓施打莫德納者進一步成為高端混打白老鼠。國民黨強調，蔡政府不應在人民沒有第二劑莫德納疫苗可打時，強推混打高端，無視民眾的疫苗選擇權、規避採購莫德納疫苗不力責任。
Culture and Communications Committee, Kuomintang
September 16, 2021
KMT Pleads for 3 Million "Moderna Orphans," Tsai Administration Should Stop Idling!
Today, Director Wang Yu-min of the Culture and Communications Committee, Deputy Director Wang Hung-wei, and Legislator Hung Mong-kai jointly convened a press conference entitled: "Plead for 3 Million Moderna Orphans: the Tsai Administration Should Stop Idling!” At this press conference, the conveners discussed the taxicab drivers of Taipei, New Taipei, Keelung, and Taoyuan, who have become so-called "Moderna orphans.” In other words, they had received the first shot of the Moderna vaccine but have not been able to obtain a second shot.
Chairman Lin Sheng-wen of the New Taipei City Taxicab Business Association and others involved in the taxicab industry also attended the press conference to express their concerns. The KMT indicated that Taiwan has, since early February, ordered 5,050,000 doses of vaccine from Moderna, yet only 1.5 million doses have arrived in Taiwan. The arrival rate of the Moderna vaccine is merely 29.7 percent, yet the government has continued to sit idly by and do nothing. Most of our citizens in Taiwan who have been vaccinated with Moderna have relied on United States donations; at the moment, amongst those who have gotten their first dose, there are still 3.8 million who cannot get their second. Confronted with this major shortage of Moderna, the government plans to employ the Medigen vaccine as a substitute for a second dose of Moderna, which has triggered an intense backlash from the people. The administration of President Tsai Ing-wen should urge Moderna to deliver vaccines more quickly and refrain from forcing the people, who are under pressure from decreasing vaccine effectiveness, to mix their vaccines with Medigen.
The KMT indicated that the taxicab drivers who were vaccinated on July 2 will soon surpass the time frame to get a second dose announced by the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC), but there has been no relevant progress on a second dose. Furthermore, there is no sign of efforts by the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) to coordinate with the CECC for a second Moderna dose. This situation has caused the 35,000 taxi drivers vaccinated via the MOTC project to become "Moderna orphans." Those in the taxicab industry are not only worried that they will be unable acquire sufficient protection from the virus, but they are also even more worried that their livelihoods will be directly impacted. The KMT therefore called upon the relevant government agencies to take action as quickly as possible.
The KMT also questioned why Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu and Secretary-General Wellington Koo of the National Security Council did not take the opportunity to push the U.S. government and Moderna, Inc. for faster vaccine deliveries when they visited the United States to attend a "special channel" meeting. Confronted with incipient domestic shortages and broken supply chains of second doses, the DPP government is not the least bit concerned with the delivery rate of the vaccines it procured itself. The KMT emphasized that the Delta variant has already led to the occurrence of rapidly worsening cases among young people in the US whose vaccination rates are low. Elderly people, who are already more susceptible to grave medical conditions, have higher vaccination rates in the US, so their total death counts are lower. In order to prevent our domestic pandemic situation from going down the same dangerous path, Taiwan must also increase vaccination rates as quickly as possible and should not prolong the time frame of second doses of vaccine, which would influence the level of protection for the vaccinated. Taiwan should also avoid allowing more medically susceptible groups from becoming exposed to high risk again.
The KMT stated that when compared to the South Korean government’s proactive and effective snapping up of Moderna, the Tsai administration looks even more obviously passive. Taiwan had already signed a contract with Moderna for 5.05 million doses of vaccine back in early February, yet half a year later, less than 30 percent of those doses have arrived. Did the Tsai administration even try to get shipments more quickly during this time period? The administration has merely stated that it won’t eliminate the possibility of extending the time frame between the first and second doses, which might eliminate any degree of protection. President Tsai has stated that her administration has pushed for faster deliveries with all available means, and Commander Chen Shih-chung has also stated that he is willing to take any action necessary, but it has been over a month since our last vaccine shipment on August 15. Where are the government’s concrete actions?
By contrast, on August 9, when the South Korean government learned that only half of the 8.5 million doses of vaccine that Moderna had originally intended to ship to South Korea had arrived, the South Korean authorities immediately planned to send a delegation to the US to discuss the matter. On August 13, they sent four officials to the Moderna headquarters in the United States to strongly protest, and Moderna apologized and promised that 7 million doses of vaccine would be delivered before the first week of September. On September 7, Moderna had already delivered 8.15 million doses, resulting in a delivery rate of 95.88 percent and in excess of the amount originally promised for early September. The South Korean government, within a time frame of less than a month, was able to expedite the shipment delivery rate to almost 100 percent. The KMT indicated that anyone with eyes to see knows whether or not the South Korean delegation to the US was effective in expediting the shipment.
The KMT emphasized that globally, the population that has been completely vaccinated stands at about 30.3 percent: the United States is at 54.4 percent, Japan is at 51.1 percent, and South Korea is at 38.8 percent. Yet, the percentage of Taiwan's population which has been completely vaccinated stands at merely 4.4 percent, causing us to fall among the lowest ranks. The South Korean government was extremely dissatisfied with its vaccine shipment rate being at only 50 percent. On the other hand, the Tsai administration has been idle and inactive; how can it expedite vaccinations for all of our people?
Furthermore, the international supply of vaccines is unstable, so there are still no clear-cut guidelines for mixing vaccines. South Korea went so far as to clearly state that it will not consider mixing vaccines at present; Taiwan should be even more careful about rushing to deprive our people of the right to choose their vaccines. Yesterday, the CECC confirmed that it had already begun conducting clinical trials on mixing Moderna and Medigen, which triggered an intense backlash from the people, called into question whether the government was forcing vaccines onto people to use up overproduced Medigen vaccines, and caused those vaccinated with Moderna to move one step further towards becoming Medigen mixture lab rats. The KMT emphasized that the Tsai administration should not forcefully push for mixing vaccines with Medigen during this time of a second dose Moderna shortage. The administration should also not ignore the people’s right to vaccine choice and should not evade the responsibility of failing to procure more Moderna vaccines.
(This is an abridged English translation of an official Kuomintang Chinese-language press release.)
