TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) on Tuesday (June 15) said there has been no surge of people heading for China amid claims that many Taiwanese have sought inoculation against COVID-19 in that country.

During a regular briefing, CECC Deputy Chief Chen Tsung-yen (陳宗彥) noted that the number of passengers traveling from Taiwan to China this month has hovered around 400 to 600 per day. The figures, which represent both Taiwanese citizens and foreigners, are stable, with no marked spike.

He was responding to a claim by China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) that around 62,000 Taiwanese had received COVID shots in China as of May 31. TAO Spokesman Ma Xiaoguang (馬曉光) has urged people in Taiwan to get vaccinated in China, as there is a shortage of doses in the country.

CECC Chief Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) has stressed that those who get vaccinated in China are still required to quarantine after returning. He added that China-developed vaccines, including Sinovac and Sinopharm, have not been approved for use in Taiwan, wrote Newtalk.

The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has blasted China for double-dealing in its vaccine policy toward Taiwan. While encouraging Taiwanese to get vaccinated in China, it has hampered Taiwan’s effort to secure vaccines abroad and continued flying military planes into its air defense identification zone, UDN cited the ministry as saying.