Shipments of Moderna COVID-19 vaccines are due to arrive in Taiwan next month, while another batch of AstraZeneca vaccines allotted to Taiwan under the COVAX program is due to arrive by June, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said yesterday.
The Chinese-language Apple Daily reported that the Moderna vaccines might arrive at the end of this month or next month.
The center in February said that Moderna had agreed to supply about 5 million doses to Taiwan, although at the time the center estimated that they would arrive in the middle of this year.
Photo: Reuters
Centers for Disease Control Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥), who is the CECC’s spokesman, said that 9,470 additional AstraZeneca shots had been sent to 68 medical facilities to expedite the rollout.
The CECC would also provide shots to local health departments, Chuang said, amid reports that vaccinations are lagging due to wariness among the public.
The Apple Daily quoted National Taiwan University Children’s Hospital pediatrician Huang Li-min (黃立民) as saying that low administration rates of the AstraZeneca vaccine was due to safety doubts, not people failing to heed CECC recommendations to get the jab.
The AstraZeneca vaccine has been linked to unusual blood clots, resulting in reluctance to get the shots, Huang said, adding that the Moderna vaccines should not draw the same skepticism.
The CECC is moving forward with the vaccine rollout, Chuang said.
The Food and Drug Administration has been asked to contact the manufacturers of the vaccines and inquire about extending their shelf life.
Two shipments of AstraZeneca vaccines expire on May 31 and June 15.
Regulations say that the manufacturer must conduct a stability test before an application to extend a shelf life can be submitted, Chuang said.
In the worst case, the expiration date would be unalterable and the vaccines disposed of, he said.
Asked about Denmark’s decision to stop its rollout of AstraZeneca vaccines completely, Chuang said that nations have their own considerations and standards, citing decisions in the US and Australia to halt inoculations with the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, while France is pushing forward with that product.
Including 1,319 people given the the AstraZeneca vaccine on Wednesday, Taiwan has inoculated 28,465 people, Chuang said.
Twelve cases of an adverse event following immunization were reported on Wednesday, but the cases were not severe, he said.
The CECC yesterday announced one additional confirmed case of imported COVID-19, designated case No. 1,069.
A Taiwanese aged under five who had been living in Indonesia arrived in Taiwan on March 28 with case No. 1,036, the CECC said.
Authorities have detained three former Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TMSC, 台積電) employees on suspicion of compromising classified technology used in making 2-nanometer chips, the Taiwan High Prosecutors’ Office said yesterday. Prosecutors are holding a former TSMC engineer surnamed Chen (陳) and two recently sacked TSMC engineers, including one person surnamed Wu (吳) in detention with restricted communication, following an investigation launched on July 25, a statement said. The announcement came a day after Nikkei Asia reported on the technology theft in an exclusive story, saying TSMC had fired two workers for contravening data rules on advanced chipmaking technology. Two-nanometer wafers are the most
NEW GEAR: On top of the new Tien Kung IV air defense missiles, the military is expected to place orders for a new combat vehicle next year for delivery in 2028 Mass production of Tien Kung IV (Sky Bow IV) missiles is expected to start next year, with plans to order 122 pods, the Ministry of National Defense’s (MND) latest list of regulated military material showed. The document said that the armed forces would obtain 46 pods of the air defense missiles next year and 76 pods the year after that. The Tien Kung IV is designed to intercept cruise missiles and ballistic missiles to an altitude of 70km, compared with the 60km maximum altitude achieved by the Missile Segment Enhancement variant of PAC-3 systems. A defense source said yesterday that the number of
A bipartisan group of US representatives have introduced a draft US-Taiwan Defense Innovation Partnership bill, aimed at accelerating defense technology collaboration between Taiwan and the US in response to ongoing aggression by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The bill was introduced by US representatives Zach Nunn and Jill Tokuda, with US House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party Chairman John Moolenaar and US Representative Ashley Hinson joining as original cosponsors, a news release issued by Tokuda’s office on Thursday said. The draft bill “directs the US Department of Defense to work directly with Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense through their respective
FLOOD RECOVERY: “Post-Typhoon Danas reconstruction special act” is expected to be approved on Thursday, the premier said, adding the flood control in affected areas would be prioritized About 200cm of rainfall fell in parts of southern Taiwan from Monday last week to 9am yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Kaohsiung’s Taoyuan District (桃源) saw total rainfall of 2,205mm, while Pingtung County’s Sandimen Township (三地門) had 2,060.5mm and Tainan’s Nanhua District (南化) 1,833mm, according to CWA data. Meanwhile, Alishan (阿里山) in Chiayi County saw 1,688mm of accumulated rain and Yunlin County’s Caoling (草嶺) had 1,025mm. The Pingtung County Government said that 831 local residents have been pre-emptively evacuated from mountainous areas. A total of 576 are staying with relatives in low-lying areas, while the other 255 are in shelters. CWA forecaster
RSS