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Coronavirus vaccine
ChinaPolitics

Taiwan eases Covid-19 vaccine fears with confirmation of doses from Moderna

  • Island to receive 5 million doses from the US firm by June, following concerns over supply amid global competition for vaccines
  • Moderna’s vaccine has yet to be approved in Taiwan, but company says it will work with regulators to get approval before distribution

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Crowds gather during the Lunar New Year holiday in Taiwan, where the coronavirus has been largely contained. Photo: Reuters
Lawrence Chung
Taiwan has secured 5 million doses of US firm Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine, its health minister has said, after concerns that the island was unable to obtain shots because of intense global competition and its refusal to accept those made in mainland China.
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Chen Shih-chung confirmed on Wednesday that Taiwan had signed an agreement with Moderna to buy 5.05 million doses of its vaccine, claimed to have among the highest efficacy rates in trials of the vaccines approved so far.

“We expect to receive the supplies by the latter part of the second quarter this year,” Chen said.

The American firm had earlier announced plans for vaccine supply that included Taiwan, to be delivered in the middle of the year.

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Moderna’s vaccine – given in two doses within 28 days – is not yet approved for use in Taiwan, and the company said it would work with regulators to obtain approval before distribution.

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Expected to arrive in Taiwan between May and June, the vaccine will be given first to Taiwan’s priority groups, Chen said. Taiwan’s epidemic command centre has previously said the island’s 24 million population would be divided into nine groups according to priority, with health care and epidemic prevention workers to be inoculated first.

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