Medigen vaccine's 'side effect' is developing a taste for cilantro, users joke

Amidst discussions about vaccine procurement during the COVID-19 pandemic, a humorous anecdote about Taiwan's domestically developed Medigen vaccine has surfaced online. A netizen shared on the social platform Threads that the sole "side effect" they experienced after receiving the Medigen vaccine was an unexpected tolerance for cilantro, a food they had previously found repulsive.

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The only side effect was that I, who couldn't eat cilantro since childhood, could suddenly eat it in large quantities, which is truly unbelievable.

The original poster recounted how Medigen was stigmatized early on, making it difficult to find participants for its trials. Both they and their wife received the vaccine, and subsequent results confirmed they had indeed been administered Medigen. The netizen reported no other adverse reactions and experienced mild symptoms when later contracting COVID-19. However, the most peculiar outcome was their newfound ability to eat cilantro, a food that previously caused nausea and dizziness.

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This is Tsai Ing-wen's conspiracy, to slowly expand the population that eats cilantro.

This unusual experience resonated with other Medigen recipients online. Many shared similar lighthearted "side effects," with some jokingly attributing it to a "conspiracy by Tsai Ing-wen" to expand the cilantro-eating population. Others reported a sudden increase in appetite after vaccination, with one user humorously noting it felt like "Grandma ran into the body, starving!" This collective sharing of quirky experiences highlights a unique, albeit anecdotal, aspect of public engagement with Taiwan's homegrown vaccine.

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I also suddenly dared to eat cilantro in the past 3-4 years. At first, I thought it was strange and couldn't figure out why. Unexpectedly, it was because of Medigen.