Coronavirus: Taiwan to step up vaccination drive with 2 million doses to arrive by end of June

Island counts 549 new infections and adds 12 to pandemic death toll on Wednesday, prompting health minister to outline large-scale vaccination programme

Medical experts warn of a possible new outbreak because of undiagnosed and mild cases within communities

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In Taipei, a nurse administers AstraZeneca vaccine during a vaccination session for health care workers amid the rise in Covid-19 infections in Taiwan on Wednesday. Photo: Reuters

Published: 2:27pm, 2 Jun 2021Updated: 11:02pm, 2 Jun 2021

Taiwan will step up coronavirus vaccinations with 2 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines due to arrive before the end of this month.

The announcement came as the island reported 549 new infections and 12 deaths on Wednesday.

Health Minister Chen Shih-chung, who is also head of the island’s Central Epidemic Command Centre, said the centre had prepared a large-scale vaccination programme to inoculate as many people as possible, with 2 million doses of AstraZeneca and Moderna vaccines expected to arrive before the end of this month.

Along with other shipments expected to arrive in Taiwan in the next two months, the island should have some 10 million shots available by the end of August, Chen said.

“We hope to reach the goal of having 60 per cent of our people taking the first jabs by October,” he said.

Under the plan, more than 7,790 medical workers will be deployed to vaccinate over 1 million people per week, according to the command centre.

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