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.
CHANGES: After-school tutoring periods, extracurricular activities during vacations or after-school study periods must not be used to teach new material, the ministry said The Ministry of Education yesterday announced new rules that would ban giving tests to most elementary and junior-high school students during morning study and afternoon rest periods. The amendments to regulations governing public education at elementary schools and junior high schools are to be implemented on Aug. 1. The revised rules stipulate that schools are forbidden to use after-school tutoring periods, extracurricular activities during summer or winter vacation or after-school study periods to teach new course material. In addition, schools would be prohibited from giving tests or exams to students in grades one to eight during morning study and afternoon break periods, the
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
Advocates of the rights of motorcycle and scooter riders yesterday protested in front of the Ministry of Transportation and Communications in Taipei, making three demands. They were joined by 30 passenger vehicles, which surrounded the ministry to make three demands related to traffic regulations — that motorcycles and scooters above 250cc be allowed on highways, that all motorcycles and scooters be allowed on inside lanes, and that driver and rider training programs be reformed. The ministry said that it has no plans to allow motorcycles on national highways for the time being, and said that motorcycles would be allowed on the inner
AMENDMENT: Contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau must be reported, and failure to comply could result in a prison sentence, the proposal stated The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) yesterday voted against a proposed bill by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers that would require elected officials to seek approval before visiting China. DPP Legislator Puma Shen’s (沈伯洋) proposed amendments to the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), stipulate that contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau should be reported, while failure to comply would be punishable by prison sentences of up to three years, alongside a fine of NT$10 million (US$309,041). Fifty-six voted with the TPP in opposition