TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) and Foxconn both in separate statements on Sunday (July 11) claimed to be in the midst of signing contracts for the purchase of vaccines from Germany’s BioNTech, according to reports.

"There are multiple parties. We are in the middle of the contract signing process. We will make announcements once the process is completed," TSMC announced. Meanwhile, Foxconn released a statement with similar wording.

Later on Sunday, Taiwanese Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) declined to comment on the matter directly, saying only that talks were ongoing and that “As soon as there is a definite outcome, we’ll naturally report it to everyone,” per SCMP.

Amid the slow pace of Taiwan’s vaccine rollout, Foxconn founder Terry Gou (郭台銘) last month announced that he would attempt to purchase doses from BioNTech directly and donate them to the Taiwanese government, a move then followed by TSMC. The two companies are both seeking to purchase 5 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine.

Taiwan’s government has been unable to come to a deal with BioNTech, despite having come close. The rights to distribute the vaccine in Taiwan were acquired by Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical Group, which the Taiwanese government has accused of blocking its attempts to purchase doses at the behest of Beijing.

Foxconn and TSMC reportedly reached a preliminary agreement with a subsidiary of the Chinese pharmaceutical group earlier this month to pave the way for the deal with the German company.