TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Foxconn Technology founder Terry Gou (郭台銘) and Health and Welfare Minister Hsueh Jui-yuan (薛瑞元) engaged in a war of words Wednesday (Dec. 21) over the availability of second-generation BioNTech (BNT) COVID-19 vaccines.
The exchange started with Gou complaining that his aged mother found it hard to find the BNT vaccine in Taiwan. Health officials reacted by saying all prominent brands of COVID vaccines were widely available, but the tycoon later added he had meant the next-generation version of the shots, which are believed to be more effective against newer variants of the virus.
Hsueh said Gou was behaving like a salesman for the German company, leading to the tycoon calling on government officials to show more understanding for the concerns of the public and to be more open to suggestions, UDN reported.
The health minister said Gou’s words had been “too heavy,” and sounded too much like sales pitches by BNT and by its Chinese agent, Fosun Pharma. The companies had been repeatedly prodding Taiwan to buy more of their COVID jabs, Hsueh said, adding the ministry had responded it would consider the matter.
The Chinese company issued a statement Wednesday evening offering next-generation vaccines for Taiwan’s future orders.