Taiwan to get 2 million more doses of Covid-19 vaccine as island ramps up inoculation programme

About 20 per cent of population have received at least one dose but fewer than 1 per cent are fully vaccinated

Britain will add the island to its green list, freeing Taiwan travellers from required quarantine

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Workers unload a shipment of AstraZeneca vaccine from Japan at the Taoyuan airport near Taipei on July 8. Photo: Taiwan Centres for Disease Control

Published: 2:59pm, 15 Jul 2021Updated: 5:25pm, 15 Jul 2021

Almost 2 million more doses of Covid-19 vaccine will arrive in Taiwan on Thursday, consisting of direct purchases and a third donation from Japan, the government said, as the island ramps up inoculations and gets domestic cases well under control.

Taiwan initially had supply shortages, like many other parts of the world, struggling to secure enough vaccines. It also blamed China for hindering its efforts, an assertion Beijing has denied.

Cabinet spokesman Lo Ping-cheng said the new arrivals would be made up of 550,000 doses from AstraZeneca and 350,000 from Moderna, both part of previously announced direct government purchases.

Almost 1 million AstraZeneca doses would also arrive as a donation from Japan, he added, its third such gift in two months.

About 20 per cent of Taiwan’s 23.5 million people have received at least one dose of the two-shot vaccine regimen, though fewer than 1 per cent are fully vaccinated.

Following a rare spike in domestic cases that began in May following months of no community infections or only a few, Taiwan has now brought the outbreak under control, although its numbers were always comparatively small.