
TAIPEI -- Taiwan will allow Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. and Foxconn to buy 10 million doses of COVID vaccines on behalf of the government, as companies race to safeguard the island's flagship tech industry from the pandemic.
It is the first time private companies in Taiwan will be given permission to purchase vaccines, a move that comes as the government struggles to quickly inoculate people. The self-governing island, which was seen as a global role model for containing the deadly virus early on, has experienced a sudden surge in local infections since the middle of last month.