Taiwan accuses Beijing of blocking BioNTech deal

For the first time, Taiwan directly accused Beijing of blocking a supply deal with Mainz-based biopharma manufacturer BioNTech for Covid vaccines. Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen said at a ruling party meeting that orders for the vaccines from AstraZeneca and Moderna had gone „smoothly“, according to a report by Reuters news agency. „As for Germany’s BioNTech, we were close to completing the contract with the original German plant, but because of China’s intervention, up to now, there’s been no way to complete it“ the report quoted the president as saying. Accordingly, BioNTech declined to comment on Tsai’s remarks. However, the company stressed that it supports a global supply of vaccines.