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Taiwan takes Pfizer-BioNTech delivery; more Moderna vaccine to arrive

ROC Central News Agency

11/12/2021 05:54 PM

Taipei, Nov. 12 (CNA) Taiwan took delivery of a new shipment of the Pfizer-BioNTech (BNT) COVID-19 vaccine on Friday morning, comprising 926,600 doses, and expects to receive another batch of the Moderna vaccine later in the evening.

According to the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC), it was the 12th delivery of the Pfizer-BNT vaccine Taiwan has received.

The expiration date on this batch of doses is March 9, 2022, Health Minister Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) said at a daily CECC news briefing.

The shipment arrived at around 7 a.m. at Taoyuan International Airport on China Airlines flight CI-62, which took off from Germany's Frankfurt Airport Thursday.

Chen, who also heads the CECC, said the 926,600 doses were transported to a cold storage warehouse, where they will be inspected before being released to local governments and administered to the public.

The new delivery is part of the 15 million Pfizer-BNT doses ordered by Hon Hai Precision Co.'s YongLin Charity; Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.; and the Tzu Chi Foundation, a Buddhist humanitarian organization. The buyers have said they will donate the doses to the government for distribution.

Currently, a little over 9.53 million doses of the Pfizer-BNT vaccine have been delivered, according to CECC data.

1. More AstraZeneca doses have been administered than have been officially received because medical workers can sometimes get more than the standard number of shots from a vial. 2. A shipment of 1.22 million Moderna doses expected Friday has been included.

Also at the press event, Chen said Taiwan expects to soon receive a new shipment of Moderna vaccine doses from the American vaccine maker.

The delivery, comprising some 1.22 million jabs, left Atlanta in the United States early Friday and is due to arrive at Taoyuan International Airport on Friday evening, he added.

The batch has an expiration date of May 8, 2022, the health minister said.

With this latest shipment due to arrive, Taiwan will have received roughly 4.94 million Moderna vaccine doses it purchased to date, Chen said.

Taiwan has ordered a total of 5.05 million doses of Moderna from the American drug-maker.

According to Chen, the latest shipments of the two vaccine brands could be used as part of the CECC's new mix-and-match approach.

(By Chang Ming-hsuan, Chiang Hui-chun and Ko Lin)

Enditem/AW