The number of local COVID-19 cases confirmed this week increased 23.1 percent from a week earlier, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said yesterday, as it reported 32,529 new local cases.
Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Director-General Chou Jih-haw (周志浩), head of the CECC’s disease surveillance division, said that 283 imported cases and 42 deaths were also confirmed yesterday.
The number of new local cases confirmed was about 20 percent more than on Saturday last week, showing a clear growth trend, Chou said.
Photo: AP
Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝), who heads the CECC, said more than 212,000 cases have been reported this week.
Weekly case numbers have been increasing for three consecutive weeks, showing that the Omicron BA.5 subvariant of SARS-CoV-2 has arrived and cases are surging as a result, he said.
The Food and Drug Administration on Friday issued an emergency use authorization (EUA) for Moderna’s second-generation bivalent COVID-19 vaccine for adults.
Commentators have asked why the government is purchasing the bivalent vaccine that targets the Omicron BA.1 subvariant and the original 2020 strain, rather than a trivalent vaccine that targets the BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants along with the original strain.
Wang said that data for the Omicron BA.1-adapted bivalent vaccine are more complete, and include animal testing and phase 2 and 3 clinical trials.
It has gained emergency use authorization in the UK, Switzerland, Australia, the EU, Canada and Taiwan between Aug. 15 and Friday, showing that it has international recognition, Wang said.
The Omicron BA.4 and BA.5-adapted vaccine was just approved by the US on Wednesday, and there is not enough clinical evidence to prove whether it is more effective than the BA.1-adapted vaccine, he said.
Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech have not submitted the data to Taiwan for review, he said, adding that the companies have said they cannot deliver BA.5-adapted bivalent vaccines to countries other than the US at this time.
Data from clinical trials on the Omicron BA.1-adapted bivalent vaccine have shown a certain level of protection against different strains of Omicron, so as new cases are increasing, that vaccine is considered effective enough to be purchased, Wang said.
The center is also reserving capacity to purchase new vaccines, possibly including the BA.4 and BA.5-adapted vaccine, he added.
“When it is already raining, or when heavy rain is about to fall, we should use the umbrella we have at hand to block the rain, instead of getting wet and hoping to buy a new type of umbrella,” he said.
The center would not force anyone to get vaccinated, so if some people insist on waiting for a newer vaccine, they can do so, but they should not try to stop others from getting vaccinated with what is available, he said.
The first of 10 new high-capacity trains purchased from South Korea’s Hyundai Rotem arrived at the Port of Taipei yesterday to meet the demands of an expanding metro network, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. The train completed a three-day, 1,200km voyage from the Port of Masan in South Korea, the company said. Costing NT$590 million (US$18.79 million) each, the new six-carriage trains feature a redesigned interior based on "human-centric" transportation concepts, TRTC said. The design utilizes continuous longitudinal seating to widen the aisles and optimize passenger flow, while also upgrading passenger information displays and driving control systems for a more comfortable
Taiwan's first indigenous defense submarine, the SS-711 Hai Kun (海鯤, or Narwhal), departed for its 13th sea trial at 7am today, marking its seventh submerged test, with delivery to the navy scheduled for July. The outing also marked its first sea deployment since President William Lai (賴清德) boarded the submarine for an inspection on March 19, drawing a crowd of military enthusiasts who gathered to show support. The submarine this morning departed port accompanied by CSBC Corp’s Endeavor Manta (奮進魔鬼魚號) uncrewed surface vessel and a navy M109 assault boat. Amid public interest in key milestones such as torpedo-launching operations and overnight submerged trials,
Quarantine awareness posters at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport have gone viral for their use of wordplay. Issued by the airport branch of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency, the posters feature sniffer dogs making a range of facial expressions, paired with advisory messages built around homophones. “We update the messages for holidays and campaign needs, periodically refreshing materials to attract people’s attention,” quarantine officials said. “The aim is to use the dogs’ appeal to draw focus to quarantine regulations.” A Japanese traveler visiting Taiwan has posted a photo on X of a poster showing a quarantine dog with a
Taiwan’s coffee community has launched a “one-person-one-e-mail” campaign, calling for people to send a protest-e-mail to the World Coffee Championships (WCC) urging it to redesignate Taiwanese competitors as from “Taiwan,” rather than “Chinese Taipei.” The call followed sudden action last week after the WCC changed all references to Taiwanese competitors from “Taiwan” to “Chinese Taipei,” including recent World Latte Art champion Bala (林紹興), who won the World Latte Art Championship in San Diego earlier this month. When Bala received the trophy, he was referred to as representing Taiwan, as well as in the announcement on the WCC’s Web site, until it
RSS