TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A Taiwan-based aircraft manufacturer whose clientele includes the Ministry of National Defense (MND) has become embroiled in a COVID-19 vaccination controversy over its workers’ privileged status.

Aerospace Industrial Development Corporation (AIDC, 漢翔) has been criticized for jumping the queue on the country’s priority list for nationwide inoculation. The company immunized its 1,000 employees last week, reported UDN.

AIDC develops and manufactures military and civil aviation-related products and provides relevant services to meet domestic and overseas demand. While military-related personnel are listed seventh in the priority order, the company's employees are not eligible for vaccination yet.

Denying the claim that the firm had jumped the queue, AIDC President Ma Wan-june (馬萬鈞) said it is involved in projects vital to air defenses, which justifies the workers being prioritized for vaccination.

When asked why the workers were forbidden from disclosing information about their shots, Ma said it had to do with the confidentiality of the company's partnership with the national defense ministry, UDN reported.

AIDC is responsible for the manufacture of indigenous warplanes and upgrades to the country's F-16 fighter jets. The firm is in charge of an F-16 maintenance and repair center that was inaugurated last August, the first of its kind in the Asia Pacific.