Taipei: Healthcare workers get first shots in Taiwan COVID-19 vaccination on Monday, launches a campaign that will not use supplies from China, amid the uneven distribution of vaccines worldwide.
Taiwan has 117,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine on hand, distributing them to health workers in 57 hospitals.
Taiwanese Prime Minister Su Tseng-chang launched the ride by receiving the first shot at the national Taiwan University Hospital in the capital Taipei. “After 30 minutes of rest, there are no signs of discomfort,” he said.
The rest period is for monitoring recipients for adverse reactions.
Last week, more than a dozen countries suspended the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine after several dozen people among the millions who received the vaccine developed blood clots.
The European Union’s Medicines Regulation Agency concluded after an investigation that this could not exclude a direct link, but that the benefits of using the vaccine outweigh the potential risks.
Taiwan has signed contracts securing 10 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine, 5.05 million doses of Moderna vaccine and 4.76 million doses of vaccine through COVAX.
The island plans to administer its full initial stock to 117,000 individuals to ensure the widest protection. Authorities have previously said the first dose has an efficacy rate of 71 percent, increasing the second dose – to be administered eight weeks later.
Taiwan has not yet announced a vaccination campaign for the public.
Countries around the world are scrambling for vaccines, which are unevenly distributed with rich countries buying the majority of the doses. China has stepped in to offer hundreds of millions of doses of its own vaccines around the developing world, but Taiwan has refrained from buying them.
Taiwanese law prohibits the importation of Chinese vaccines made for human consumption. The island’s health minister said in February there was no consideration of amending the law and no experts had made a special recommendation for Chinese vaccinations.
Source: Telangana Today