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.
China has reserved offshore airspace in the Yellow Sea and East China Sea from March 27 to May 6, issuing alerts usually used to warn of military exercises, although no such exercises have been announced, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported yesterday. Reserving such a large area for 40 days without explanation is an “unusual step,” as military exercises normally only last a few days, the paper said. These alerts, known as Notice to Air Missions (Notams), “are intended to inform pilots and aviation authorities of temporary airspace hazards or restrictions,” the article said. The airspace reserved in the alert is
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The first bluefin tuna of the season, brought to shore in Pingtung County and weighing 190kg, was yesterday auctioned for NT$10,600 (US$333.5) per kilogram, setting a record high for the local market. The auction was held at the fish market in Donggang Fishing Harbor, where the Siaoliouciou Island-registered fishing vessel Fu Yu Ching No. 2 delivered the “Pingtung First Tuna” it had caught for bidding. Bidding was intense, and the tuna was ultimately jointly purchased by a local restaurant and a local company for NT$10,600 per kilogram — NT$300 ,more than last year — for a total of NT$2.014 million. The 67-year-old skipper
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