The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) yesterday approved the release of 164,700 doses of Novavax vaccines for the XBB.1.5 variant of SARS-CoV-2, which are expected to be ready for distribution by Tuesday.
A total of 330,000 doses arrived in Taiwan at the end of last year, but only 132,200 doses were approved for release amid concern over proper storage temperature during delivery, prompting a request for Novavax to provide documentation that the vaccines are still valid.
The FDA also confirmed that another 165,000 doses are to arrive by the end of the month, as more people test positive for the XBB.1.5 subvariant across Taiwan and in the region.
Photo: Chiu Chih-jou, Taipei Times
Local vaccinations rose 33 percent from Monday to Thursday compared with last week, the FDA said.
To date, the government has administered Moderna’s XBB vaccine to 1.13 million people and Novavax’s XBB vaccine to 660,000 people.
With a cold wave forecast to arrive tomorrow, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reminded people to dress accordingly when attending year-end banquets and other events.
The CDC recommended that those eligible for vaccination to get their shots as soon as possible to maximize protection.
People aged 12 or older can choose either the Moderna or Novavax vaccine, while children aged six months to 11 years old who are eligible for vaccination should only receive the Moderna vaccine.
The CDC said the public can consult the Fall-Winter vaccines page on its Web site for more information on hospitals and clinics offering such services.
CDC Deputy Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞) said that the government had 4.3 million Moderna XBB variant vaccines in storage and 60,000 Novavax vaccines.
Super Typhoon Kong-rey is the largest cyclone to impact Taiwan in 27 years, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said today. Kong-rey’s radius of maximum wind (RMW) — the distance between the center of a cyclone and its band of strongest winds — has expanded to 320km, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said. The last time a typhoon of comparable strength with an RMW larger than 300km made landfall in Taiwan was Typhoon Herb in 1996, he said. Herb made landfall between Keelung and Suao (蘇澳) in Yilan County with an RMW of 350km, Chang said. The weather station in Alishan (阿里山) recorded 1.09m of
NO WORK, CLASS: President William Lai urged people in the eastern, southern and northern parts of the country to be on alert, with Typhoon Kong-rey approaching Typhoon Kong-rey is expected to make landfall on Taiwan’s east coast today, with work and classes canceled nationwide. Packing gusts of nearly 300kph, the storm yesterday intensified into a typhoon and was expected to gain even more strength before hitting Taitung County, the US Navy’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center said. The storm is forecast to cross Taiwan’s south, enter the Taiwan Strait and head toward China, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The CWA labeled the storm a “strong typhoon,” the most powerful on its scale. Up to 1.2m of rainfall was expected in mountainous areas of eastern Taiwan and destructive winds are likely
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday at 5:30pm issued a sea warning for Typhoon Kong-rey as the storm drew closer to the east coast. As of 8pm yesterday, the storm was 670km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻) and traveling northwest at 12kph to 16kph. It was packing maximum sustained winds of 162kph and gusts of up to 198kph, the CWA said. A land warning might be issued this morning for the storm, which is expected to have the strongest impact on Taiwan from tonight to early Friday morning, the agency said. Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼) and Green Island (綠島) canceled classes and work
KONG-REY: A woman was killed in a vehicle hit by a tree, while 205 people were injured as the storm moved across the nation and entered the Taiwan Strait Typhoon Kong-rey slammed into Taiwan yesterday as one of the biggest storms to hit the nation in decades, whipping up 10m waves, triggering floods and claiming at least one life. Kong-rey made landfall in Taitung County’s Chenggong Township (成功) at 1:40pm, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The typhoon — the first in Taiwan’s history to make landfall after mid-October — was moving north-northwest at 21kph when it hit land, CWA data showed. The fast-moving storm was packing maximum sustained winds of 184kph, with gusts of up to 227kph, CWA data showed. It was the same strength as Typhoon Gaemi, which was the most
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