The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) is negotiating a purchase of Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine for children younger than five, it said yesterday, as it received a new batch of the vaccine for children aged 5 to 11.
The shipment delivered yesterday consisted of 504,000 doses that expire on Sept. 30, and are to be administered as first and second shots, said Centers for Disease Control Deputy Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞), deputy head of the CECC’s medical response division.
Taiwan signed a contract in late April to purchase 1.8 million doses of the vaccine for adults, which have all been delivered, along with 2.2 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for children aged 5 to 11, of which 1.6 million have been delivered.
Photo courtesy of Penghu Defense Command
The CECC is also negotiating a deal to purchase Pfizer-BioNTech’s vaccine for children aged six months to four years old, Lo said.
The center is urging the manufacturer to submit information on the vaccine to the Food and Drug Administration so that it can start the emergency use authorization (EUA) process.
Taiwan granted EUA to the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine for children aged six months to five years on Friday.
A total of 450,000 doses of that vaccine, which can supply up to 900,000 shots for children in that age group, are to be delivered early next month, with a rollout expected to begin later that month, Lo said.
The CECC yesterday reported 35,596 local COVID-19 cases, the lowest daily figure for new cases since May 5.
While the local case count is the lowest in more than a month and about 30 percent fewer cases than on Sunday, the figure is typically lower on Mondays, as it reflects the fewer cases reported by healthcare facilities on Sundays.
Nevertheless, new cases are expected to fall below 50,000 per day in the upcoming week, the CECC said.
Among the 144 newly confirmed deaths, 139 had underlying health conditions, 91 did not receive a vaccine booster, and 75 were aged 80 or older, Lo said.
The youngest was a man in his 20s, who had a chronic nervous system disease and had a tracheotomy due to past trauma, Lo said.
The man had symptoms of pneumonia and was diagnosed with COVID-19 on Monday last week, but died of respiratory failure on Friday, Lo added.
A one-year-old boy, who has chronic cardiopulmonary and a nervous system disease, was reported as having severe COVID-19 symptoms, he said.
The child was diagnosed with COVID-19 on June 11, and admitted to an intensive care unit on Wednesday last week due to pneumonia and a low blood oxygen level, he said.
Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center and was diagnosed with COVID-19 on June 12, was yesterday released from isolation.
As Chen still tested positive in an at-home test and had a mild cough, he was working from home, Lo said.
He said that people do not need to test negative upon ending seven days of at-home care, and they do not need to continue isolation if they test positive after seven days, as the risk of still being contagious is low.
Chen is only being extra careful, Lo added.
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