The 2022 Smart City Summit and Expo is being held at Nangang Exhibition Hall while three foreign guests tested positive for COVID-19 after attending the opening ceremony. Health and Welfare Minister Chen Shih-chung admitted that efforts to keep them separated were not adequately implemented right from the start.
The 2022 Smart City Summit and Expo is being held at Nangang Exhibition Hall. Foreigners invited to attend the event were given special treatment to enter Taiwan through "bubbles," which included not having to take COVID-19 tests at the airport. Instead, they were only tested after they arrived at their hotel. Three of them subsequently tested positive, bringing to light a breach in the government's disease prevention policy. The positive tests also forced the event to be suspended. Health and Welfare Minister Chen Shih-chung admitted the efforts to separate these foreigners in "bubbles" were poorly implemented.
Chen Shih-chung, Health and Welfare Minister: “As of now, the number of cases hasn't increased. The separation efforts on the first day were poorly implemented, and they were allowed to have contact with other people at the exhibition venue. The planning of the implementation of the bubble was executed poorly.”
As a result of these three positive cases, 38 people have been ordered to quarantine and 119 to conduct self-health management. The Taipei City Government also sent out an alert to the 5,045 people who attended expo events on March 22. The hotel where the cases are staying was disinfected. One of them, a Poland national, had a Ct value of 25. Doctors say that these bubbles for foreigners need to effectively keep them separate from locals to ensure that contacts can be traced as soon as cases are found.
Chou Pai-chien, Thoracic Doctor, Taipei Medical University Hospital: “What happened is that a hole developed. Sometimes even three rounds of disinfection are ineffective and even if we keep them separated, there's still no way to ensure that they won't affect other staff members.”
The Novavax COVID-19 vaccine is a protein-based vaccine that has been authorized for emergency use by the World Health Organization. Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices convener Lee Ping-ing revealed during an interview that this vaccine may be available in Taiwan soon, and Chen confirmed the information.
Chen Shih-chung, Health and Welfare Minister: “It's not very certain yet, but we intend to purchase two million doses of the Novavax vaccine, that's two million doses. However, it's still unknown how many doses there will be in the first batch that arrives.”
Lee said the vaccine has completed human trials for the 12 to 17 age group and trials are underway for those under the age of 12. The protection rate is 89 percent, which is comparable to mRNA vaccines. Meanwhile, the risk of myocarditis in adolescents is lower with protein-based vaccines compared to mRNA vaccines.
台北南港展覽館的2022智慧城市論壇，有外賓在機場入境沒有進行採檢，直到抵達飯店時採驗才發現確診，導致出現防疫破口，目前已確認有3位外賓確診，活動緊急喊卡。對此衛福部長陳時中坦言，外賓專案來台泡泡的區隔沒做確實。
衛福部長陳時中表示：「到目前沒有增加的人數，第一天裡面，區隔的並沒有做得很確實，也有在展會展場裡面，他有跟民眾，本來的一個分流泡泡這樣的一個規劃，就做的不是那麼好。」
目前此案沒有新增確診者，也匡列38人居家隔離、119人自主健康管理；北市府也針對22日參與論壇的5045人發出細胞簡訊，下榻飯店也清消。不過其中一位波蘭確診外賓的Ct值只有25，國內醫師認為，專案泡泡應落實外賓與國人的區隔，才有辦法在第一時間發現並及早匡列。
北醫胸腔科主治醫師周百謙認為：「這邊產生一個破洞，我們在一些消毒方面沒辦法完全，即使是再三的去把他們做一個隔離動作，還是沒有辦法去降低，這些和其他的工作人員影響的一個可能性。」
另外，先前已獲得世界衛生組織認證、列為緊急使用清單與高端同屬次單位蛋白疫苗的Novavax疫苗，衛福部傳染病防治諮詢會預防接種組召集人李秉穎上午在廣播節目專訪時透露，將有機會進入台，對此陳時中也證實此消息。
衛福部長陳時中說：「還沒有很確定，我們總共Novavax疫苗的量是200多萬，是200多萬，但第一批要進來多少，現在還沒有確定。」
李秉穎表示，目前Novavax疫苗已通過12至17歲的青少年人體試驗，也在進行12歲以下的兒童疫苗試驗，該疫苗的保護率達89%，跟mRNA疫苗保護力相差不大，但mRNA疫苗可能對青少年產生的心肌炎等副作用，在次單位蛋白疫苗也比較不會出現。
