Poland is to donate 400,000 doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine to Taiwan, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday.
Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC), said that a delivery date had not yet been set.
Taiwanese media reports said the vaccine doses are scheduled to arrive at Taoyuan International Airport at around 6:30 am today, citing airport personnel.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
MOFA said that it was grateful for Poland’s decision to donate the vaccines in return for Taiwan’s donation of masks and personal protective equipment last year.
Meanwhile, a second shipment of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is to arrive on Wednesday, a Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport official familiar with the matter said yesterday.
It was not clear how many doses of the Germany-developed vaccine would arrive in the shipment, the source said, adding that information about the flight bringing the cargo had not yet been confirmed.
As of press time last night, the CECC had not confirmed the report.
Chen earlier this week said that more of the vaccine would likely be delivered within one or two weeks.
In other news, Taiwan on Friday donated 200 oxygen concentrators to Malaysia to help the nation cope with a surge in COVID-19 cases.
Amid a wave of community infections, Malaysia has seen an average of 20,000 new cases per day.
The donation to Malaysia was made in the spirit of a “people-centered approach” outlined in the government’s New Southbound Policy to bolster ties with Southeast Asian and South Asian countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
Taiwan gave Indonesia 200 oxygen concentrators in mid-July, followed by 300 to Vietnam in late July and 200 to the Philippines late last month.
At a donation event, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Tien Chung-kwang (田中光) presented the medical equipment to Sharon Ho (何瑞萍), president of the Malaysian Friendship and Trade Centre, the de facto Malaysian embassy in Taiwan.
“We all know that there are no borders in pandemics,” Tien said. “Until everyone is safe, no one truly is. When our friends in Malaysia are threatened by the pandemic, our government decided to provide support immediately, so that Taiwan and Malaysia could combat the pandemic hand in hand.”
The government hopes to continue positive relations with Malaysia to advance the well-being of the people of both nations, Tien added.
Ho thanked Taiwan for the assistance and said the donation would prove beneficial to future collaborations and exchanges between the nations.
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