450,000 doses of Moderna vaccine for under-6s arrive in Taiwan

ROC Central News Agency

07/06/2022 12:35 PM

Taipei, July 5 (CNA) Taiwan took delivery of a shipment of 450,000 doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine for children aged between 6 months and 5 years on Wednesday morning, according to the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport.

The doses, transported on a China Airlines flight from Amsterdam, will be inspected by the Food and Drug Administration, a process that is expected to take 14 days, and then delivered to local governments, likely on July 21, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said on the previous day.

The CECC had previously stated that local health authorities would be responsible for arranging vaccination sites.

Taiwan has already rolled out the Pfizer-BioNTech for children as young as 5 years old and the Moderna vaccine for kids 6 years old and above. The latest Moderna shipment will be the first COVID-19 vaccine available for kids below 5 in Taiwan, with the 450,000 doses able to be used to vaccinate 900,000 children below 5.

The CECC had earlier said it was also negotiating a deal to purchase Pfizer-BioNTech's vaccine for children from 6 months to 4 years.

(By Wu Jui-chi, Chiang Yi-ching and Lee Hsin-Yin)

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