A fifth shipment of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines, containing 270,000 doses, arrived in Taiwan yesterday morning, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said, as it announced that AstraZeneca and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines would be offered in the 11th round of vaccinations.
The fifth shipment of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines, donated by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co, the Hon Hai Precision Industry Co-affiliated YongLin Foundation and the Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Foundation, arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, said Deputy Minister of the Interior Chen Tsung-yen (陳宗彥), deputy head of the center.
The three groups have together donated 15 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, and 3.32 million doses have arrived since Sept. 2, CECC data showed.
Photo: CNA
The new batch of vaccines expires on Feb. 10 next year, Chen said, adding that the center expresses its gratitude to the three groups for their continued assistance.
Chen also announced that the AstraZeneca vaccine would be offered as a second dose and the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine as a first dose in the 11th round of national vaccinations.
Those eligible for the AstraZeneca vaccine are people aged 18 to 55 (born between Jan. 1, 1966, and Oct. 15, 2003) who received their first dose on or before July 22 and people aged 56 or above (born on or before Dec. 31, 1965) who received their first dose on or before July 30, he said.
Photo: Tony Yao, Taipei Times
For the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, those eligible are unvaccinated people aged 47 or older (born on or before Dec. 31, 1974), unvaccinated people aged 12 to 22 (born between Jan. 1, 1999, and Oct. 15, 2009) and unvaccinated people aged 18 or older (born on or before Dec. 31, 2003) who are listed in the ninth priority group for vaccinations, Chen said.
If eligible recipients have not registered on the national online COVID-19 vaccination booking system, they must register before midday tomorrow, he said.
Once registered, people can book a vaccination appointment through the system between 10am on Monday next week and midday on Wednesday next week, Chen said, adding that the vaccines would be administered from Friday next week to Oct. 21.
Centers for Disease Control Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥), the CECC’s spokesperson, confirmed that a 48-year-old man was the first person in Taiwan to die after receiving the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.
The man received his first dose on Tuesday last week, had a headache and arm pain on Wednesday and Thursday, and died on Saturday after he was taken to an emergency room because he was experiencing chest pain and a cold sweat, Chuang said.
The man had a record of chronic hepatitis, hypertension and hyperlipidemia, Chuang said, adding that the cause of death is being investigated by a prosecutor and forensic pathologist.
Asked about a vaccine administration error at Jen Ai Hospital in Taichung’s Dali District (大里), Chuang said that hospital staff on Wednesday last week inadvertently gave only 0.1ml of the AstraZeneca vaccine to 44 vaccine recipients, when each dose should be 0.5ml.
The hospital asked the 44 people to come back for another jab on Friday last week, but only 40 returned, he said.
The hospital has been asked to submit a report on the incident, and the local health department has temporarily suspended the hospital’s vaccination services, he added.
A group of Taiwanese-American and Tibetan-American students at Harvard University on Saturday disrupted Chinese Ambassador to the US Xie Feng’s (謝鋒) speech at the school, accusing him of being responsible for numerous human rights violations. Four students — two Taiwanese Americans and two from Tibet — held up banners inside a conference hall where Xie was delivering a speech at the opening ceremony of the Harvard Kennedy School China Conference 2024. In a video clip provided by the Coalition of Students Resisting the CCP (Chinese Communist Party), Taiwanese-American Cosette Wu (吳亭樺) and Tibetan-American Tsering Yangchen are seen holding banners that together read:
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