Taiwan is set to take delivery of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for children aged from 6 months to 5 years old by the end of this month, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said yesterday.
The doses could help ensure that children are better protected at school, the CECC said, adding that it the three required shots are to be administered over a three-month period.
Taiwan last month granted emergency use authorization (EUA) for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to be used for young children, as infants and young children face a risk of severe illness or death amid the spread of COVID-19.
Photo: Reuters
The vaccine for the age group will be administered in three 0.2 milliliter doses, each containing 3 micrograms of mRNA, with a minimum interval of 21 days for the first two doses and a period of at least eight weeks before the third shot.
Taiwan began offering the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine to children aged 6-11 on May 2 and started the rollout of the Pfizer-BNT COVID-19 vaccine for children aged 5-11 on May 25.
Separately, five million doses of the locally produced Medigen COVID-19 vaccine were purchased by the government, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said in response to opposition lawmakers who questioned the government’s accounting of the shots.
Photo: Tsai Szu-pei, Taipei Times
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers Yosi Takun and Wan Mei-ling (萬美玲) said that about 780,000 doses are unaccounted for, after requesting Food and Drug Administration (FDA) data regarding government supplies of the Medigen vaccine, a local newspaper reported on Saturday.
The report said that the FDA’s Web site showed that Medigen Vaccine Biologics Corp delivered 5,664,743 doses to the FDA for lot-release testing.
The company said it had provided 200,000 free doses to the government before it gained emergency use authorization in June last year, so based on the contract, the company owed the government about 5.2 million doses, it said.
The report said that 2,967,109 doses of the Medigen vaccine were administered as of Aug. 8, while 150,000 doses were donated to the Republic of Somaliland, 1,757,321 doses are in stock, and 7,324 doses were disposed of after expiration, for a total of 4,881,754 doses.
Wan questioned the whereabouts of the 782,989 shortfall, based on the difference between the delivered doses and those that have been accounted for.
The government purchased and received 5 million doses of the Medigen vaccine, while the FDA conducted lot release testing on about 5.66 million doses, the CECC said.
As of Thursday, 2,972,281 doses were administered, while 1,749,914 doses are in stock, and 127,805 doses were spoiled. That includes 7,324 doses disposed of after expiration, others that were damaged, and 150,000 donated to the Republic of Somaliland, it said.
The 666,000 doses that underwent lot release testing were not given to the Centers for Disease Control, but used by Medigen privately, the CECC said.
Additional reporting by CNA
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