Health Minister Chen Shih-chung has been in the spotlight over the past few weeks. However, the dentist-turned-politician -- once one of Taiwan’s most popular political figures -- has attracted public attention for a different reason than before. He has come under fire for the government’s decision to allow imports of US pork containing ractopamine as well as a controversial decision about the distribution of free flu shots.   

Because of COVID-19 fears, Taiwan has seen more people taking free flu vaccines this year. However, the number of doses available is limited, and so the health ministry made an unexpected announcement a week ago, saying that it will halt the provision of free doses to people aged between 50 and 64 who do not have chronic illnesses.

Chen later apologized for the move, but he also defended the government’s policy. He said flu shots are aimed at achieving herd immunity, which can be reached if over 25% of the public is covered. He said that there are 6.03 million free vaccine doses this year, enough to reach the 25% threshold. Chen said that taken together with the additional 1.15 million vaccines that must be paid for, the total number of available doses can cover 31.7% of Taiwan’s population. In other words, Chen said the policy, in principle, has achieved the goal of herd immunity.