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TAIPEI: The Taiwanese government today granted emergency use authorization for AstraZeneca Plc’s Covid-19 vaccine, and the injections are expected to be administered as soon as within seven days of arrival.
In December, Taiwan said it had agreed to purchase nearly 20 million doses of vaccines, including 10 million from AstraZeneca and 4.76 million doses from the COVAX global vaccine program.
The emergency use authorization was granted on Saturday morning, and assuming the paperwork is in order, the first injections can begin within a week of arrival, Food and Drug Administration CEO Wu told reporters. Shou-mei.
The first batch of 200,000 AstraZeneca vaccines provided by COVAX could start arriving next week.
Taiwan is also receiving five million doses from American pharmaceutical company Moderna Inc. Wu said the process to grant it emergency use approval was in full swing.
The government plans to vaccinate first-line quarantine and sanitation workers first and ultimately aims to obtain 30 million doses of vaccines to cover about 65 percent of the island’s population.
Taiwan has kept the pandemic well under control thanks to early and effective prevention, with fewer than 50 active cases treated in hospital. He has not yet received any vaccinations, although at such a low rate, authorities have said there is no urgency to receive the vaccinations.
Germany’s BioNTech SE said this week that it plans to provide the Covid-19 vaccine to Taiwan, after the island complained that the company pulled out of a deal to sell it 5 million doses at the last minute, possibly due to pressure. of China, which claims Taiwan as its own. – Reuters
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