Phase 2 clinical trials of locally developed COVID-19 vaccines are nearly completed and doses are expected to be available by the end of July, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said yesterday.
Tsai made the remarks after visiting the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) along with Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) in the morning as Taipei and New Taipei City entered the fourth day under level 3 COVID-19 prevention measures.
The vaccines being developed by Medigen Vaccine Biologics Corp (高端疫苗) and United Biomedical Inc (聯亞生技) are entering the final stage of phase 2 clinical trials, Tsai said, adding that the government would fully support the firms while checking the safety and quality of the jabs.
Photo: CNA
Taiwan has taken delivery of 117,000 vaccine doses purchased directly from AstraZeneca PLC and 199,200 doses of the same vaccine through the COVAX initiative.
A total of 220,352 doses had been administered as of yesterday, CECC data showed.
A surge in local COVID-19 infections over the past week has increased people’s willingness to be inoculated, as well as the pressure on the government to procure more doses.
GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance on Monday said that more AstraZeneca vaccines would be delivered to Taiwan soon.
GAVI, which is coleading the COVAX scheme set up last year to ensure fair access to vaccines among rich and poor nations, said it expects Taiwan to receive another delivery of AstraZeneca vaccines by the end of next month at the latest.
Representative to the US Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) yesterday wrote on Facebook that since the US started rolling out vaccines at the end of last year, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office (TECRO) in the US have been urging Washington to help Taiwan obtain vaccines.
Hsiao’s remarks followed criticism that the government has been putting more effort into helping Latin American allies obtain vaccines than it did for Taiwan.
The US had an urgent need for vaccines at the time, so it did not respond to Taiwan’s request positively, Hsiao said, adding that the ministry and the TECRO still helped the government sign a contract with vaccine maker Moderna, which is expected to start supplying COVID-19 vaccines to Taiwan in the middle of this year.
After meeting Americans’ demand for vaccines, Washington began helping poorer countries that have been hit hard by the pandemic, and now that Taiwan is reporting more local infections, the US has understood the nation’s urgent need for more jabs, she added.
US President Joe Biden has said the US would share AstraZeneca vaccines with the rest of the world and TECRO has been asking Washington to include Taiwan among the recipients, Hsiao said.
Additional reporting by CNA
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
Taiwan was ranked the fourth-safest country in the world with a score of 82.9, trailing only Andorra, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar in Numbeo’s Safety Index by Country report. Taiwan’s score improved by 0.1 points compared with last year’s mid-year report, which had Taiwan fourth with a score of 82.8. However, both scores were lower than in last year’s first review, when Taiwan scored 83.3, and are a long way from when Taiwan was named the second-safest country in the world in 2021, scoring 84.8. Taiwan ranked higher than Singapore in ninth with a score of 77.4 and Japan in 10th with
SECURITY RISK: If there is a conflict between China and Taiwan, ‘there would likely be significant consequences to global economic and security interests,’ it said China remains the top military and cyber threat to the US and continues to make progress on capabilities to seize Taiwan, a report by US intelligence agencies said on Tuesday. The report provides an overview of the “collective insights” of top US intelligence agencies about the security threats to the US posed by foreign nations and criminal organizations. In its Annual Threat Assessment, the agencies divided threats facing the US into two broad categories, “nonstate transnational criminals and terrorists” and “major state actors,” with China, Russia, Iran and North Korea named. Of those countries, “China presents the most comprehensive and robust military threat
RSS