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

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
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.

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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.

The government granted emergency-use authorisation for the AstraZeneca shots last month.

Taiwan is also getting 5 million doses from US drug maker Moderna Inc, and the government said last week it could begin administering its home-made Covid-19 vaccines as early as July.

The government plans to vaccinate frontline health and quarantine workers first, and aims eventually to get up to 45 million vaccine doses for its 23 million people.

Taiwan has kept the pandemic well under control thanks to early and effective prevention, including tough border controls and quarantine measures, with only 23 active cases being treated in hospital.

While Taiwan has been keen to start vaccinations, officials have said that with such a low rate of infection there was not the same urgency to getting the shots as other countries with a far higher toll.

Germany’s BioNTech said it planned to provide Covid-19 vaccines to Taiwan, after the island complained the firm pulled out of a deal to sell it 5 million doses at the last minute, possibly due to pressure from Beijing, which claims Taiwan as part of its territory.

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