TAIPÉI (AP) – Taiwanese health workers received their first dose of the coronavirus vaccine on Monday at the start of the country’s vaccination campaign, which will not use supplies from China amid uneven distribution of the vaccines. on an international level.
Taiwan has 117,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine developed by AstraZeneca, which it will distribute to health workers in 57 hospitals.
Taiwanese Prime Minister Su Tseng-Chang kicked off the vaccination campaign by receiving the first injection at the National Taiwan University hospital, located in the capital Taipei. “After 30 minutes of rest, there are no signs of any discomfort,” he said.
The rest period is to monitor whether the vaccinated have any adverse reaction.
Last week, more than a dozen nations suspended the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine after a few dozen people among the millions who have been vaccinated developed blood clots. After a review, the European Union drug agency concluded that it could not rule out a direct link, but that the benefits of using the vaccine outweighed the possible risks.
Taiwan has signed contracts to secure 10 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, 5.05 million of the vaccine developed by Moderna, and 4.76 million doses through the United Nations COVAX program.
The island plans to administer its entire initial supply to 117,000 individuals to ensure the broadest protection. The first dose has a 71% effectiveness rate and the second dose, which must be administered eight weeks later, increases its effectiveness to 81%, authorities have said.
Taiwan has yet to announce its vaccination campaign to the general public.
Countries around the world are struggling to get vaccines, which have been unevenly distributed and wealthy nations have purchased most of the doses. China has stepped in to offer hundreds of millions of doses of its vaccines to developing countries, but Taiwan has refrained from buying them.
Taiwan law prohibits the importation of vaccines developed in China for use in humans. In February, the island’s health minister said they were not considering changing the law and that no expert had made any special recommendations for Chinese vaccines.
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