A shipment of 777,600 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for children that Taiwan was to receive on Tuesday is expected to arrive on Monday next week, after being delayed by technical issues, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said yesterday.
The batch of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine doses for children aged five to 11 had been scheduled to arrive in the nation on Tuesday at 6am, but the delivery was delayed due to problems with the pharmaceutical company’s information system, said Centers for Disease Control Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥), who is the CECC’s spokesman.
The shipment, part of a deal for 4 million doses that was signed on April 28, is to leave Frankfurt, Germany, on Sunday and arrive in Taiwan early on Monday next week, Chuang told a committee hearing at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei.
Photo courtesy of the Penghu County Government via CNA
Taiwan last week received 2,000 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for children, but they were for testing purposes, the center said.
The CECC had said that after Taiwan takes delivery of the shipment, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is expected to spend seven days testing the vaccines, but aimed to complete administering them to children before Friday next week.
However, the delay means that the inoculation of children might not start until Friday next week, instead of finishing then, the center said.
On April 28, the government signed a deal to purchase about 4 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine: about 1.8 million doses for teenagers and adults, and 2.2 million doses for children.
The FDA has authorized administering the vaccine to children aged five to 11, with the recommendation that they wait at least 12 weeks between the first and second dose.
A child’s dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is one-third of the dose given to people aged 12 or older, the center said.
Taiwan on Monday received the 1.85 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine ordered for those aged 12 or older, it said.
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