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.
FREEDOM OF NAVIGATION: The UK would continue to reinforce ties with Taiwan ‘in a wide range of areas’ as a part of a ‘strong unofficial relationship,’ a paper said The UK plans to conduct more freedom of navigation operations in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea, British Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs David Lammy told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. British Member of Parliament Desmond Swayne said that the Royal Navy’s HMS Spey had passed through the Taiwan Strait “in pursuit of vital international freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.” Swayne asked Lammy whether he agreed that it was “proper and lawful” to do so, and if the UK would continue to carry out similar operations. Lammy replied “yes” to both questions. The
‘OF COURSE A COUNTRY’: The president outlined that Taiwan has all the necessary features of a nation, including citizens, land, government and sovereignty President William Lai (賴清德) discussed the meaning of “nation” during a speech in New Taipei City last night, emphasizing that Taiwan is a country as he condemned China’s misinterpretation of UN Resolution 2758. The speech was the first in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to give across Taiwan. It is the responsibility of Taiwanese citizens to stand united to defend their national sovereignty, democracy, liberty, way of life and the future of the next generation, Lai said. This is the most important legacy the people of this era could pass on to future generations, he said. Lai went on to discuss
SECOND SPEECH: All political parties should work together to defend democracy, protect Taiwan and resist the CCP, despite their differences, the president said President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday discussed how pro-Taiwan and pro-Republic of China (ROC) groups can agree to maintain solidarity on the issue of protecting Taiwan and resisting the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The talk, delivered last night at Taoyuan’s Hakka Youth Association, was the second in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to give across Taiwan. Citing Taiwanese democracy pioneer Chiang Wei-shui’s (蔣渭水) slogan that solidarity brings strength, Lai said it was a call for political parties to find consensus amid disagreements on behalf of bettering the nation. All political parties should work together to defend democracy, protect Taiwan and resist
By refusing to agree spending increases to appease US President Donald Trump, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez threatened to derail a summit that NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte needs to run smoothly for the sake of the military alliance’s future survival. Ahead of yesterday’s gathering in The Hague, Netherlands, things were going off the rails. European officials have expressed irritation at the spoiler role that Sanchez is playing when their No. 1 task is to line up behind a pledge to raise defense spending to 5 percent of GDP. Rutte needed to keep Spain in line while preventing others such as Slovakia