The nation’s first-dose COVID-19 vaccination rate has exceeded 70 percent, with two-dose full vaccinations surpassing 30 percent, Minister of Health and Welfare Minister Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) said yesterday.
More than 16.4 million people, or 70.01 percent of Taiwan’s population of 23.43 million, have received at least one vaccine dose, and 30.87 percent, or 7.23 million people, have received two.
Chen said that 78.16 percent of people aged 65 or above had received at least one shot, and 67.57 percent had been fully vaccinated.
Photo: Tu Chien-jung, Taipei Times
The two-dose vaccination rate of the flight crew of Taiwanese airlines has reached 99 percent, with 90 percent of airport personnel having been fully vaccinated, said Chen, who also heads the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC).
Taiwan yesterday received 902,100 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, the ninth shipment Taiwan has received of this brand.
It is part of 15 million doses ordered by the Hon Hai Precision Industry Co-affiliated Yong Lin Foundation, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co, and the Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Foundation, which are to be donated to the government for distribution.
Another shipment of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is scheduled to arrive today, Chen said.
With the latest delivery, Taiwan has now received more than 6.8 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine and over 25.4 million COVID-19 vaccine doses from overseas, CECC data showed.
Taiwan yesterday reported six new COVID-19 cases, all contracted overseas, and zero deaths from the disease, the CECC said.
The six imported cases arrived in Taiwan from Japan, the US, the UK, Kyrgyzstan and Mongolia. They all tested positive during quarantine, the CECC said.
FINAL COUNTDOWN: About 50,000 attended a pro-recall rally yesterday, while the KMT and the TPP plan to rally against the recall votes today Democracy activists, together with arts and education representatives, yesterday organized a motorcade, while thousands gathered on Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei in the evening in support of tomorrow’s recall votes. Recall votes for 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers and suspended Hsinchu City mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) are to be held tomorrow, while recall votes for seven other KMT lawmakers are scheduled for Aug. 23. The afternoon motorcade was led by the Spring Breeze Culture and Arts Foundation, the Tyzen Hsiao Foundation and the Friends of Lee Teng-hui Association, and was joined by delegates from the Taiwan Statebuilding Party and the Taiwan Solidarity
‘NON-RED’: Taiwan and Ireland should work together to foster a values-driven, democratic economic system, leveraging their complementary industries, Lai said President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday expressed hopes for closer ties between Taiwan and Ireland, and that both countries could collaborate to create a values-driven, democracy-centered economic system. He made the remarks while meeting with an Irish cross-party parliamentary delegation visiting Taiwan. The delegation, led by John McGuinness, deputy speaker of the Irish house of representatives, known as the Dail, includes Irish lawmakers Malcolm Byrne, Barry Ward, Ken O’Flynn and Teresa Costello. McGuinness, who chairs the Ireland-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Association, is a friend of Taiwan, and under his leadership, the association’s influence has grown over the past few years, Lai said. Ireland is
Instead of threatening tariffs on Taiwan-made chips, the US should try to reinforce cooperation with Taiwan on semiconductor development to take on challenges from the People’s Republic of China (PRC), a Taiwanese think tank said. The administration of US President Donald Trump has threatened to impose across-the-board import duties of 32 percent on Taiwan-made goods and levy a separate tariff on semiconductors, which Taiwan is hoping to avoid. The Research Institute for Democracy, Society, and Emerging Technology (DSET), a National Science and Technology Council think tank, said that US efforts should focus on containing China’s semiconductor rise rather than impairing Taiwan. “Without
An SOS message in a bottle has been found in Ireland that is believed to have come from the Taiwanese captain of fishing vessel Yong Yu Sing No. 18 (永裕興18號), who has been missing without a trace for over four years, along with nine Indonesian crew members. The vessel, registered to Suao (蘇澳), went missing near Hawaii on Dec. 30, 2020. The ship has since been recovered, but the 10 crew members have never been found. The captain, surnamed Lee (李), is believed to have signed the note with his name. A post appeared on Reddit on Tuesday after a man