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Taiwan announces 400,000 AstraZeneca doses on the way

19 May 2021 10:36 (UTC +04:00)

Taiwan will receive an additional 400,000 doses of AstraZeneca on Wednesday from the global COVAX sharing program, the government said, as it faces a decrease in vaccine supply during a peak in household infections, APA reports citing Reuters.

Taiwan has reported nearly 1,000 new infections in the past week, causing further brakes in the capital, Taipei, and shocking a population that has become accustomed to life going almost normally.

But his vaccine stock is dwindling rapidly. He has only received just over 300,000 to date, all from AstraZeneca Plc. At least two-thirds of these have been distributed.

Cabinet spokesman Lo Ping-cheng told reporters that some 400,000 additional doses would arrive in Taiwan on Wednesday afternoon from Amsterdam.

The vaccines come from COVAX, which distributes vaccines to low-income countries, Lo said.

Taiwan said it expects to get more than one million shots of AstraZeneca through COVAX.

Taiwan has ordered 20 million doses, mainly from AstraZeneca but also from Modern (NASDAQ Inc, although global shortages have reduced supplies.

In a statement Wednesday, Taiwan’s Centers for Disease Control said, after a virtual vaccine workshop Tuesday with leading U.S., British, Japanese and Australian diplomats in Taipei, that vaccines must be distributed fairly.

“Equitable access to effective vaccines is the ultimate way to curb the global COVID-19 pandemic. We look forward to the development and commercialization of more effective and sufficient vaccines, and call on all countries to work together to end the COVID-19 pandemic ”. mentionned.

Taiwan is mobilizing diplomats to try to speed up access to more vaccines and is in talks with the United States for a share of the COVID-19 injections President Joe Biden plans to send overseas.

Christensen, the de facto US ambassador to Taiwan, said at the same event that “talking about COVID-19 vaccines can be a sensitive topic,” according to a copy of his remarks released by his office.

“We recognize that each country and region is at different stages in their COVID-19 vaccination programs,” the remarks said. “Unfortunately, many still have difficulty accessing vaccines.”