Taiwan yesterday received three shipments of COVID-19 vaccines, a total of 1.88 million doses.
The nation has so far received 8.92 million doses of the AstraZeneca and Moderna vaccines.
First to arrive was a donation from Japan. A Japan Airlines Co flight arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport at about 1:45pm with 970,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine on board.
Photo: CNA
Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC), and center officials Wang Pi-sheng (王必勝) and Chou Jih-haw (周志浩) greeted the flight holding signs thanking the Japanese government for its latest donation.
Japan has donated a total of 3.34 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine to Taiwan. The first batch of 1.24 million doses was delivered on June 4, while a second batch of 1.13 million doses arrived on Thursday last week.
Japan’s three donations would cover about 15 percent of Taiwan’s population, and are a tremendous help in the nation’s fight against COVID-19, Chen said at the airport.
“We are very grateful,” he said, before thanking the Japanese government and people once again for their friendship toward Taiwan.
A second shipment arrived at the airport at about 3:15pm.
The China Airlines Ltd (中華航空) flight, which flew in from Thailand, delivered 560,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine — ones purchased by the government.
Taiwan signed a contract with AstraZeneca PLC for 10 million doses on Oct. 30 last year — this was the third delivery, the center said.
The first delivery of 117,000 doses arrived on March 3, while the second delivery of 626,000 doses arrived on Wednesday last week.
Yesterday’s final shipment of vaccines arrived at the airport at about 4pm. The China Airlines flight, which flew in from Luxembourg, arrived with 350,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine.
Taiwan signed a contract with Moderna Inc for 5.05 million doses, the center said.
With yesterday’s shipment — the fourth delivery — the nation has so far received 1.15 million of the doses, it said.
The first delivery of 150,000 doses arrived on May 28, followed by 240,000 doses on June 18 and 410,000 doses on June 30.
As of 5pm yesterday, 7.58 million people had registered online to get vaccinated against COVID-19: 2.5 percent chose the AstraZeneca vaccine, 55.19 percent chose Moderna and 42.31 percent said they would accept either vaccine, the center said.
As of Wednesday, 4,337,272 COVID-19 vaccine doses had been administered — 4,242,075 first doses and 95,197 second doses, CECC data showed.
Additional reporting by CNA
‘CROWN JEWEL’: Washington ‘can delay and deter’ Chinese President Xi Jinping’s plans for Taiwan, but it is ‘a very delicate situation there,’ the secretary of state said US President Donald Trump is opposed to any change to Taiwan’s “status quo” by force or extortion and would maintain that policy, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told the Hugh Hewitt Show host on Wednesday. The US’ policy is to maintain Taiwan’s “status quo” and to oppose any changes in the situation by force or extortion, Rubio said. Hewitt asked Rubio about the significance of Trump earlier this month speaking with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電) chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) at the White House, a meeting that Hewitt described as a “big deal.” Asked whether the meeting was an indication of the
‘RELATIVELY STRONG LANGUAGE’: An expert said the state department has not softened its language on China and was ‘probably a little more Taiwan supportive’ China’s latest drills near Taiwan on Monday were “brazen and irresponsible threats,” a US Department of State spokesperson said on Tuesday, while reiterating Washington’s decades-long support of Taipei. “China cannot credibly claim to be a ‘force for stability in a turbulent world’ while issuing brazen and irresponsible threats toward Taiwan,” the unnamed spokesperson said in an e-mailed response to media queries. Washington’s enduring commitment to Taiwan will continue as it has for 45 years and the US “will continue to support Taiwan in the face of China’s military, economic, informational and diplomatic pressure campaign,” the e-mail said. “Alongside our international partners, we firmly
KAOHSIUNG CEREMONY: The contract chipmaker is planning to build 5 fabs in the southern city to gradually expand its 2-nanometer chip capacity Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, yesterday confirmed that it plans to hold a ceremony on March 31 to unveil a capacity expansion plan for its most advanced 2-nanometer chips in Kaohsiung, demonstrating its commitment to further investment at home. The ceremony is to be hosted by TSMC cochief operating officer Y.P. Chyn (秦永沛). It did not disclose whether Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) and high-ranking government officials would attend the ceremony. More details are to be released next week, it said. The chipmaker’s latest move came after its announcement earlier this month of an additional US$100 billion
Authorities yesterday elaborated on the rules governing Employment Gold Cards after a US cardholder was barred from entering Taiwan for six years after working without a permit during a 2023 visit. American YouTuber LeLe Farley was barred after already being approved for an Employment Gold Card, he said in a video published on his channel on Saturday. Farley, who has more than 420,000 subscribers on his YouTube channel, was approved for his Gold Card last month, but was told at a check-in counter at the Los Angeles International Airport that he could not enter Taiwan. That was because he previously participated in two
RSS