Coronavirus: Taiwan takes delivery of 117,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine

Shots are the first to arrive on the island but represent only a ‘relatively small’ number of what Taipei has ordered from the British-Swedish firm, health minister says

Taiwan granted emergency-use authorisation for the AstraZeneca shots last month

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Taiwan has taken delivery of its first batch of Covid-19 vaccines from AstraZeneca. Photo: Reuters

Published: 8:06pm, 3 Mar 2021Updated: 8:06pm, 3 Mar 2021

The first batch of Covid-19 vaccines arrived in Taiwan on Wednesday, the island’s health minister said, adding it was hoping to secure more vaccines to begin its immunisation campaign.

About 117,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine landed at Taipei’s main international airport in the morning, Chen Shih-chung told reporters. He declined to say when the shots would start being administered.

While the amount of vaccines that had arrived represented only a “relatively small” number of what the island had ordered from AstraZeneca, the shipment marked a “very meaningful” event for Taiwan’s health workers, he said.

“Every country is stockpiling. We of course welcome what was sent to us,” he said, adding Taiwan was working to get more imported vaccines.

In December, Taiwan said it had agreed to buy almost 20 million vaccine doses, including 10 million from AstraZeneca. It is also getting 200,000 AstraZeneca vaccines via the Covax Facility, a WHO-backed effort to ensure poorer countries receive fair and equitable access to Covid-19 vaccines.