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.
Three batches of banana sauce imported from the Philippines were intercepted at the border after they were found to contain the banned industrial dye Orange G, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. From today through Sept. 2 next year, all seasoning sauces from the Philippines are to be subject to the FDA’s strictest border inspection, meaning 100 percent testing for illegal dyes before entry is allowed, it said in a statement. Orange G is an industrial coloring agent that is not permitted for food use in Taiwan or internationally, said Cheng Wei-chih (鄭維智), head of the FDA’s Northern Center for
The Chinese military has built landing bridge ships designed to expand its amphibious options for a potential assault on Taiwan, but their combat effectiveness is limited due to their high vulnerability, a defense expert said in an analysis published on Monday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a research fellow at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said that the deployment of such vessels as part of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy’s East Sea Fleet signals a strong focus on Taiwan. However, the ships are highly vulnerable to precision strikes, which means they could be destroyed before they achieve their intended
About 4.2 million tourist arrivals were recorded in the first half of this year, a 10 percent increase from the same period last year, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. The growth continues to be consistent, with the fourth quarter of this year expected to be the peak in Taiwan, the agency said, adding that it plans to promote Taiwan overseas via partnerships and major events. From January to June, 9.14 million international departures were recorded from Taiwan, an 11 percent increase from the same period last year, with 3.3 million headed for Japan, 1.52 million for China and 832,962 to South Korea,
REWRITING HISTORY: China has been advocating a ‘correct’ interpretation of the victory over Japan that brings the CCP’s contributions to the forefront, an expert said An elderly Chinese war veteran’s shin still bears the mark of a bullet wound he sustained when fighting the Japanese as a teenager, a year before the end of World War II. Eighty years on, Li Jinshui’s scar remains as testimony to the bravery of Chinese troops in a conflict that killed millions of their people. However, the story behind China’s overthrow of the brutal Japanese occupation is deeply contested. Historians broadly agree that credit for victory lies primarily with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT)-led Republic of China (ROC) Army. Its leader, Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石), fled to Taiwan in 1949 after losing a
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