The government has been monitoring slightly-growing market demand for antipyretics amid concerns that a resumption of ferry links between Taiwan and China would result in Chinese snapping up drugs to treat COVID-19 symptoms, the Taiwan Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said Wednesday.
The precautionary monitoring comes after a recent surge in COVID-19 outbreaks in China, the FDA said, although it added that it is uncertain if that was the reason behind the growing demand for antipyretics.
FDA drug section head Yang Bo-wen (???) told CNA that the agency had also made an inventory of antipyretics, making sure that local pharmaceutical companies have the ability to produce the drug in the next six months.
If there is a significant shortage of antipyretics, he said, there will be a contingency plan to boost either its production or imports, Yang said.
He said the FDA had not detected any abnormal situation so far, such as demand for a traditional herbal formula developed in Taiwan, also known as Taiwan Chingguan Yihau (NRICM101).
On Tuesday, Premier Su Tseng-chang (???) raised the issue of Chinese coming to stock up on drugs if Taiwan resumed the transportation aspect of the “mini-three links.”
The mini-three links refer to direct trade, postal, and transport services launched on Jan. 1, 2001 between Kinmen and Matsu in the Republic of China (Taiwan’s official name), and Xiamen, Mawei, and Quanzhou in China’s Fujian Province.
However, travel between the two sides was suspended by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC), Taiwan’s main agency in charge of China affairs, on Feb. 10, 2020 amid concerns over the spiraling COVID-19 outbreak in China.
The issue of resuming the ferry service was brought to the fore after Kuomintang (KMT) Legislator Jessica Chen (???) visited Xiamen on Monday to discuss with Chinese officials the possibility of reinstating direct ferry links.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel