Taiwan receives 6th shipment of Moderna COVID-19 vaccine this year
ROC Central News Agency
05/03/2022 06:41 PM
Taipei, May 3 (CNA) Taiwan took delivery of 1,106,100 doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine on Tuesday, the sixth shipment this year from the company, Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) said.
The nearly 1.11 million vaccine doses were delivered on board a China Airlines flight CI-161 from Incheon, South Korea, and arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport at 1:38 p.m.
In addition to Tuesday's shipment, Taiwan expects to receive two more deliveries on Wednesday and Saturday, with the total number of doses in the three shipments about 3.47 million, Chen said during the Central Epidemic Command Center's (CECC's) press briefing.
The delivery was part of a second deal Taiwan signed in July 2021 with Moderna to procure 35 million doses for 2022-2023, 20 million of which is to be delivered this year, according to the CECC.
With Tuesday's shipment, Taiwan has received 6,819,600 doses from Moderna this year, the CECC said, noting the newly delivered doses are due to expire on Aug. 18.
1. More doses of the Moderna and Pfizer-BNT vaccine have been administered in Taiwan than the government has officially received because recipients of the Moderna booster shot are given half the standard dose of the first and second jab, while medical workers can sometimes get more than the standard number of shots from a Pfizer-BNT vial. 2. Information about the booster dose and additional dose can be found at https://t.ly/4ZuW
On Tuesday, Taiwan reported 23,139 new COVID-19 cases, as well as five deaths from the disease, bringing the number of fatalities recorded in the country this year to 23, according to the CECC.
Of the 23 deaths, 12 were unvaccinated, four had one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, five had two doses, while two had three doses, said CECC official and Centers for Disease Control Deputy Director-General Lo Yi-chun (羅一鈞) during the press briefing.
The number of patients who developed moderate to severe infections this year rose to 300 out of 124,708 locally transmitted cases reported between Jan. 1 and May 2, while 99.76 percent of the cases were asymptomatic or resulted in only mild symptoms, Lo noted.
People who remain unvaccinated and those who have received just one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine should get fully vaccinated to prevent severe COVID-19 infections or death from the disease, Lo said.
The figures do not include imported cases reclassified as domestic ones, nor retroactively removed cases. As of May 3, Taiwan recorded 147,810 domestic cases in 2022, while the total number of imported cases rose to 11,481 from 2,396 on Jan. 1.
Starting Monday, vaccination was available for children aged from 6 to 11 at schools around Taiwan, with each to be given a half dose of the Moderna vaccine with their parents' consent.
The CECC said a total of 667 children received a shot on Monday, adding that as of Tuesday there have been no reports of adverse reactions from the recipients of the vaccine.
To date, 84.93 percent of Taiwan's population of 23.33 million have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, while 80.18 percent have gotten two doses, according to CECC data.
Since the introduction of a third dose in late December, 60.10 percent of the population have received a booster dose, and 0.83 percent have been given an additional dose, which is given to immunocompromised people who may not develop the same immune response level after vaccination as others, data showed.
(By Chen Chie-ling, Hsu Chih-wei, Wu Ruei-chi and Kay Liu)
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