AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine arrives in Taiwan

Health care workers, especially those who have direct contact with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 cases, will be the first to get the shots.

Taipei: The first batch of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine has arrived in Taiwan.

Taiwan has signed contracts securing 10 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, 5.05 million doses of the Moderna vaccine and 4.76 million doses of vaccines through COVAX.

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Wednesday’s delivery had 117,000 doses, which was transported from the airport with a police escort.

Health care workers, especially those who have direct contact with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 cases, will be the first to get the shots, Taiwan’s Health Minister Chen Shih-chung said at a news briefing. The island has yet to announce a mass vaccination campaign for the general public.

The island is planning to give the first dose to 117,000 individuals, the minister said, with the first dose providing an efficacy rate of 71 per cent. The second dose is meant to be given eight weeks later, boosting effectiveness to 81 per cent.