Taiwan has ordered about 2 million doses of the Novavax COVID-19 vaccine through the global vaccine sharing initiative COVAX, Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) said yesterday.
However, it is not clear when the first shipment would arrive and how many doses it would contain, said Chen, who heads the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC).
The Food and Drug Administration is reviewing technical data on the Novavax vaccine as part of its emergency use authorization process, he added.
Photo: Reuters
The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) has recommended that the vaccine be given to people aged 18 or older as first, second or booster shots, Chen said.
The interval between the first and second doses should be 28 days, and a booster shot should follow 12 weeks after a second dose, he said.
Asked whether there is interest in the vaccine in Taiwan, Chen said that subunit vaccines like Novavax are suitable for people who are allergic to other types of COVID-19 vaccines offered in Taiwan, or those who are put off by the potentially more severe side effects of other vaccines.
Photo courtesy of the CECC
While the locally developed Medigen vaccine is also a subunit vaccine, it has not yet been approved by the WHO, which could lead people to choose the Novavax vaccine instead, he said.
Taiwan has ordered 4.76 million COVID-19 vaccine doses from COVAX, of which 1.02 million doses, all of the AstraZeneca brand, have been delivered, the CECC said.
Meanwhile, the ACIP said that a meeting with experts recommended against giving COVID-19 vaccines to children aged 5 to 11, and advised against administering booster shots to those aged 12 to 17.
Photo: CNA
In other developments, Taiwan reported 15 domestic COVID-19 cases, including 13 from a new cluster at a chemical plant in Kaohsiung.
An employee at the plant began to show symptoms on Wednesday, and her test results came back positive yesterday, Chen said.
Subsequent testing found that 10 other employees had also contracted COVID-19, as well as two of their family members, one of whom is a high-school student, he said.
The student’s classmates and homeroom teacher have tested negative and have been asked to quarantine, Chen said.
The 45 employees at the chemical plant who tested negative are also in quarantine, and the plant is to suspend operations, he said.
The CECC has not yet identified the source of the cluster, he said.
The other two domestic cases tested positive in quarantine, and their infections are related to a cluster of unknown origin centered on a wedding in Chiayi City, Chen said.
Each of the local cases reported yesterday had received either two or three doses of a COVID-19 vaccine, the CECC said.
Taiwan yesterday also reported 124 imported cases of COVID-19, the highest daily total recorded since the pandemic began, Chen said.
The previous record was on Saturday last week, when 120 imported cases were reported.
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