Moderna Inc’s emergency use authorization (EUA) for vaccines targeting the XBB variant of SARS-CoV-2 is imminent, with doses expected to be available as soon as the second half of next month, Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥) said yesterday.
Taiwan intends to import 2 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine in its first delivery, Chuang said.
While target groups are yet to be assigned by the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, high-risk groups would “definitely be on the list,” he said.
Photo courtesy of Taipei Tzu Chi Hospital
Infectious Diseases Society of Taiwan president Wang Fu-te (王復德) said that XBB has become the most prevalent strain in Asia.
It is highly resistant, “possibly due to altered antibody evasion properties deriving from their additional spike mutations,” Wang said, citing work by researcher David Ho (何大一).
Chuang said that BioNTech had also reached out to the CDC for further collaboration, but Taiwan was unlikely to purchase BioNTech vaccines this year, as it still has 14 million Moderna doses.
The government might consider BioNTech as a pay-out-of-pocket option next year, he said.
Separately, Sun Wen-jung (孫文榮), secretary-general of the Taiwan Association of Family Medicine, said that with the end of summer vacation nearing, the government should be on the lookout for a possible surge in COVID-19 cases.
The government should be vigilant throughout the Mid-Autumn Festival and Double Ten National Day holidays, Sun said.
People who are in high-risk groups for the disease should report to a hospital or clinic as soon as possible if they develop symptoms of the disease, he added.
Meanwhile, mask rules are to be further eased at school campuses at elementary and junior-high schools in Taipei when classes start on Wednesday next week and parents would be allowed on school grounds, the city government said yesterday.
Masks would no longer be required on school buses or at campus gatherings, and would only be required in school health centers, the Taipei Department of Education said, adding that parents would be allowed back on campus to meet faculty or participate in school activities.
Two US House of Representatives committees yesterday condemned China’s attempt to orchestrate a crash involving Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim’s (蕭美琴) car when she visited the Czech Republic last year as vice president-elect. Czech local media in March last year reported that a Chinese diplomat had run a red light while following Hsiao’s car from the airport, and Czech intelligence last week told local media that Chinese diplomats and agents had also planned to stage a demonstrative car collision. Hsiao on Saturday shared a Reuters news report on the incident through her account on social media platform X and wrote: “I
SHIFT PRIORITIES: The US should first help Taiwan respond to actions China is already taking, instead of focusing too heavily on deterring a large-scale invasion, an expert said US Air Force leaders on Thursday voiced concerns about the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) missile capabilities and its development of a “kill web,” and said that the US Department of Defense’s budget request for next year prioritizes bolstering defenses in the Indo-Pacific region due to the increasing threat posed by China. US experts said that a full-scale Chinese invasion of Taiwan is risky and unlikely, with Beijing more likely to pursue coercive tactics such as political warfare or blockades to achieve its goals. Senior air force and US Space Force leaders, including US Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink and
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Czech officials have confirmed that Chinese agents surveilled Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) during her visit to Prague in March 2024 and planned a collision with her car as part of an “unprecedented” provocation by Beijing in Europe. Czech Military Intelligence learned that their Chinese counterparts attempted to create conditions to carry out a demonstrative incident involving Hsiao, which “did not go beyond the preparation stage,” agency director Petr Bartovsky told Czech Radio in a report yesterday. In addition, a Chinese diplomat ran a red light to maintain surveillance of the Taiwanese
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