A fifth shipment of COVID-19 vaccines donated by Japan arrived in Taiwan yesterday, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said, as it reported no new local infections or deaths, but five imported cases.
Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center, said that the batch of 500,000 AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine doses arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport at noon.
“Japan has gifted a total of 3,904,000 doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine to us,” he said, adding that the center is grateful to the Japanese government and public for helping increase vaccination coverage in Taiwan.
Photo: Chu Pei-hsiung, Taipei Times
The batch comprises doses with expiration dates of Nov. 26 and Nov. 30, he added.
On Friday, 259,781 vaccine doses were administered, bringing the nation’s first-dose coverage rate to 51.49 percent, Chen said.
As of Friday, 12,075,243 people had received a first dose of a vaccine, and 2,067,218 had received two doses, CECC data showed.
Photo: CNA
Asked whether the CECC would allow further combinations for mix-and-match vaccinations — with first and second doses of different brands — Chen said that the center promotes the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine as the first dose and the AstraZeneca or Moderna COVID-19 vaccine as the second dose.
Expanding the mix-and-match approach would only be considered if the vaccine supply makes it necessary, he said.
Centers for Disease Control Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥), who is the CECC’s spokesman, said Taiwan’s 10th round of vaccinations would focus on first-dose vaccinations with the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.
People in the ninth priority group who are younger than 40 and members of the general public aged 64 or younger would likely be eligible, but the exact age limits would be announced once the number of available doses has been confirmed, Chuang said.
The AstraZeneca vaccine doses that arrived yesterday would be administered mainly as second doses to people who had their first dose at least 10 weeks earlier, Chuang said, adding that the details would be announced today.
Chen said that the five imported cases are from Bangladesh, Ethiopia, the Philippines, the United Arab Emirates and the US.
Asked whether the center might relax COVID-19 restrictions, Chen said that the CECC is discussing its policy and planning to make an announcement next week.
Although sporadic cases have been reported over the past few weeks in northern Taiwan, the center would keep the whole nation at the same COVID-19 alert level, unless a special situation occurs, he said.
Chen said that the mask wearing mandate remains an important part of the nation’s disease prevention strategy and would not be eased.
However, mask rules for certain occasions, such as for gatherings of members of the same family, might be gradually eased, he said.
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