Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) and Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) are to be the first people in Taiwan to receive the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, at National Taiwan University Hospital in Taipei today, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said yesterday.
As today is the first day of COVID-19 vaccination for frontline healthcare workers most likely to have direct exposure to COVID-19 patients, Su yesterday said he had asked the CECC specialist advisory panel for an assessment and that he would get a shot of the AstraZeneca vaccine today.
The panel last week suggested that Su and Chen take the lead in the nation’s inoculation drive to reassure the public that the vaccine is safe, as concerns were raised after a few countries partially suspended AstraZeneca vaccinations due to some reported cases of blood clots.
Photo: CNA
At the CECC’s news conference, Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥), who is the CECC’s spokesman, confirmed that Su and Chen would arrive at the hospital at 7:40am to be vaccinated.
Asked whether Su, who is over 65, should receive the vaccine, Chuang said the AstraZeneca vaccine is not being given to people aged 65 or older in some countries, because there were fewer older participants in the vaccine’s clinical trials.
However, the AstraZeneca vaccine is being offered to people aged 65 or older in the UK and some European countries, as well as South Korea, which initially had not approved the vaccine for the age group, he said.
So far there have been no abnormal effects reported after vaccination in this age group, he added.
The CECC on Friday held an online meeting with local health departments and 57 hospitals that would be offering the vaccine to explain the vaccination procedure, Chuang said.
An Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices meeting was also held on Friday, and the specialists decided to include a few precautionary tips recommended by the European Medicines Agency in the consent form for COVID-19 vaccination in Taiwan, he said.
Asked about a report by Shanghai health authorities that a traveler from Taiwan who arrived in the city on Wednesday was confirmed to have COVID-19 yesterday, Chuang said the center has contacted authorities in Shanghai for more details, but there has been no response yet.
Separately yesterday, the CECC reported an imported case of COVID-19.
The case is a Taiwanese who traveled to Poland for business in November last year, Chuang said.
He returned to Taiwan on Feb. 25 and was quarantined at a hotel because he did not show any symptoms upon arrival, he said.
However, the man on March 1 said he had developed a mild cough, but did not report it to the local health department, as he thought the symptom was not serious.
Chuang said the man returned home on March 10 and continued to practice self-health management, and the result of a paid COVID-19 test on Friday came back positive yesterday.
Japan has deployed long-range missiles in a southwestern region near China, the Japanese defense minister said yesterday, at a time when ties with Beijing are at their lowest in recent years. The missiles were installed in Kumamoto in the southern region of Kyushu, as Japan is attempting to shore up its military capacity as China steps up naval activity in the East China Sea. “Standoff defense capabilities enable us to counter the threat of enemy forces attempting to invade our country ... while ensuring the safety of our personnel,” Japanese Minister of Defense Shinjiro Koizumi said. “This is an extremely important initiative for
MORE POPULAR: Taiwan Pass sales increased by 59 percent during the first quarter compared with the same period last year, the Tourism Administration said The Tourism Administration yesterday said that it has streamlined the Taiwan Pass, with two versions available for purchase beginning today. The tourism agency has made the pass available to international tourists since 2024, allowing them to access the high-speed rail, Taiwan Railway Corp services, four MRT systems and four Taiwan Tourist Shuttles. Previously, five types of Taiwan Pass were available, but some tourists have said that the offerings were too complicated. The agency said only two types of Taiwan Pass would be available, starting from a three-day pass with the high-speed rail and a three-day pass with Taiwan Railway Corp. The former costs NT$2,800
POLLS CONCERNS: There are concerns within the KMT that a Cheng Li-wun-Xi Jinping meeting could trigger a voter backlash in elections in November Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) accepted an invitation from Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) to visit next month, her party and Chinese state media reported yesterday. Cheng, who took up her role in November last year, “gladly accepted” the invitation to lead a delegation to China, the KMT said in a statement, confirming a Xinhua news agency report. Cheng “looks forward to joint efforts by both parties to advance the peaceful development of cross-strait relations, promote cross-strait exchanges and cooperation, and work for peace in the Taiwan Strait and greater well-being for people on both sides,” the statement said. Chinese
SIGNIFICANT TO THE WORLD: The delegation’s visit aims to send a clear message that bipartisan support for Taiwan is consistent, US Senator Jeanne Shaheen said The US Senate’s bipartisan support for Taiwan remains strong and Taiwan-US ties would continue for decades to come, a US Senate delegation said in Taipei yesterday, while calling on the legislature to swiftly pass a special defense budget bill. A US delegation led by Democratic US Senator Jeanne Shaheen and Republican US Senator John Curtis — both members of the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations — arrived in Taiwan yesterday for a two-day visit. The other senators of the delegation included Senate Taiwan Caucus cochair Thom Tillis and Senate Committee on Armed Services senior member Jacky Rosen. Shaheen told a news
RSS