A donation of 20,000 doses of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines from Lithuania is scheduled to arrive in Taiwan tomorrow, the Taiwanese representative office in Latvia said on Wednesday.
The full shipment of vaccines was already at Vilnius Airport on Wednesday, awaiting transport to Taiwan, said the Taipei Mission in the Republic of Latvia, which is also responsible for promoting relations with Lithuania.
Representative to Latvia Eric Huang (黃鈞耀) and Lithuanian Parliamentary Group for Relations with Taiwan chairman Matas Maldeikis were at the airport on Wednesday to make sure that all would go well with the shipment, the Taipei mission said.
When Lithuania on June 22 pledged the donation, it said the 20,000 doses of AstraZeneca would be delivered by late September.
The donation was announced by Lithuanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Gabrielius Landsbergis on Twitter.
“I am proud that we can, albeit in a small way, show solidarity with the Taiwanese people in combating the COVID-19,” Landsbergis wrote on Twitter. “Freedom-loving people should look out for each other!”
Local media also cited Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte as saying that the Baltic country would like to do more, “but we do what we can.”
Since Lithuania’s new government took office in December last year, it has been carrying out a “values-based foreign policy” to promote relations with Taiwan.
In March, the country announced a proposal to establish a trade office in Taiwan.
On Tuesday last week, Taiwan said it planned to open a representative office in Lithuania to expand relations with the Baltic state and other central European countries.
Lithuania reciprocated the same day by confirming that it planned to set up a trade office in Taipei in the fall.
Meanwhile, there was a surge in monetary donations from Taiwanese to charity groups in Lithuania after it pledged to donate vaccines to Taiwan.
EIGHT KILLED: Three of the four juvenile victims were children of the man suspected of setting the fire at the tire repair shop after a family dispute Four of the eight people killed in a fire in Hsinchu City on Wednesday night were children and the other four were adults who died while trying to rescue the children from the second floor of the burning building, the city’s Fire Bureau said yesterday. Fire Bureau First Corps commander Chang Chih-chih (張智智) told a news conference that the fire at Zheng Yi Tire Repair Shop on Dongda Road might have been intentionally set by the owner’s son, Chen Yen-hsiang (陳彥翔), who earlier had an argument with other family members. Chen allegedly bought gasoline and lit a fire near four motorcycles inside
FIFA World Cup host Qatar has corrected an online application form that listed Taiwan as part of China, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday. Following the ministry’s protest on Wednesday, “Taiwan” replaced “Taiwan, Province of China” on a dropdown menu on the Web site to apply for a Hayya Card, an identification card all World Cup spectators are required to obtain, ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou (歐江安) said. “We express our appreciation to the event organizers for their swift response in making the correction and safeguarding the rights of our nation’s fans,” she added. The card also serves as an entry visa for
FIVE QUESTIONED: Customers reported faulty kits after Safeway OA Supply Co allegedly imported poor-quality versions from China and sold them as US-made products The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) yesterday banned the sale and importation of Flowflex COVID-19 rapid test kits, after 2.37 million flawed kits, allegedly made in China, entered the Taiwanese market and were sold to 13 government agencies. According to regulations, the kits should be manufactured in factories in the US, but the importer allegedly imported poor-quality kits from China illegally and sold them as US-made products, FDA section chief Fu Ying-hsien (傅映先) said. The FDA ordered that all Flowflex COVID-19 Antigen Home Tests that were imported by Safeway OA Supply Co Ltd (大鑫資訊) be recalled and warned customers against buying or
NEW TRAVEL REGIME: The CECC advised people to stay put in between quarantine and self-disease prevention, but said that they could apply for a location change Inbound travelers who need to change locations for the four-day self-disease prevention period following their three-day quarantine must apply with their local government, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said yesterday. The “one person per household” principle would remain in place under the new “3+4” quarantine policy, which was implemented yesterday, the center said. More than 4,500 incoming travelers were expected yesterday, including more than 980 people who entered Taiwan in the early morning, said Centers for Disease Control Deputy Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞), the CECC’s acting spokesman and medical response division deputy head. Lo said many people had asked the CECC whether
RSS