A batch of 99,600 doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine arrived in Taiwan yesterday afternoon, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said, as it reported four locally transmitted COVID-19 cases and three deaths — the lowest daily case count since a nationwide level 3 alert was issued on May 19.
The batch is the fifth procured from Moderna Inc and arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport at 3:45pm yesterday. The doses were transported to a cold chain storage facility for lot release testing after it passed an air cargo examination at the airport.
Of the doses purchased directly from the US-based vaccine maker, a total of 1,249,600 have so far arrived in Taiwan, the CECC said.
Photo: CNA
Asked who would be eligible to receive the newly arrived vaccines, Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center, said that as the number of doses is relatively small, the CECC has not yet decided how to distribute them.
It would begin to discuss how to make the most effective use of them, he added.
As more than 3.9 million people who registered with the national online COVID-19 vaccination booking system only selected the Moderna vaccine, the center was asked if these people would have a chance of getting vaccinated soon.
Chen said that there would be limited doses available for people to receive two doses of the Moderna vaccine after the next round of vaccinations, which would be administered starting this week.
With the 2.5 million doses donated by the US, Taiwan is expected to receive a total of 8.55 million doses of the Moderna vaccine this year, which would be enough for about 4.2 million people, he said.
As about 2.9 million people received a first dose and about 520,000 doses would be administered next week, “there will not be much left to offer in the future,” he said.
Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥), who is the CECC’s spokesperson, said that there are about 435,000 people who would receive a first dose of the Moderna vaccine next week, so about 3.335 million people would have received a first dose of the Moderna vaccine after the next round of vaccinations is completed.
Therefore, there would be fewer than 1 million people who might become eligible for two doses of the Moderna vaccine, he said.
Meanwhile, Chen said that two of the four new domestic cases tested positive during isolation, and the infection sources of three cases have been identified.
Of the local cases, two were reported in Taipei, and one each in New Taipei City and Taoyuan, he said.
“We can see that the daily case counts are steadily dropping, so we hope that contact tracing can be performed more precisely when the case counts are low to gain more control over the COVID-19 situation,” Chen said.
The CECC also reported three imported cases — travelers from Malaysia, Turkey and the US — and three deaths — two men and one woman, aged between 60 and 90, who all had underlying health conditions. They died between July 31 and Aug. 1.
US President Donald Trump yesterday announced sweeping "reciprocal tariffs" on US trading partners, including a 32 percent tax on goods from Taiwan that is set to take effect on Wednesday. At a Rose Garden event, Trump declared a 10 percent baseline tax on imports from all countries, with the White House saying it would take effect on Saturday. Countries with larger trade surpluses with the US would face higher duties beginning on Wednesday, including Taiwan (32 percent), China (34 percent), Japan (24 percent), South Korea (25 percent), Vietnam (46 percent) and Thailand (36 percent). Canada and Mexico, the two largest US trading
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 —
China's military today said it began joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan to "serve as a stern warning and powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence," calling President William Lai (賴清德) a "parasite." The exercises come after Lai called Beijing a "foreign hostile force" last month. More than 10 Chinese military ships approached close to Taiwan's 24 nautical mile (44.4km) contiguous zone this morning and Taiwan sent its own warships to respond, two senior Taiwanese officials said. Taiwan has not yet detected any live fire by the Chinese military so far, one of the officials said. The drills took place after US Secretary