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BioNTech vaccine rollout to start in mid-September
Health Minister Chen Shih-chung says, the rollout of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine in Taiwan can begin as early as mid-September, after the first shipment arrives in the country today.
A flight carrying the first shipment of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was expected to arrive at Taoyuan International Airport in the early hours of today.
Health Minister Chen had not yet provided details on the carrier or number of doses to be delivered, but noted that more shipments are likely in the coming weeks.
Chen says the government plans to first give the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to people 12 to 17 years of age.
People 18 to 22 years of age will be the next group of recipients, if they register for the brand of the vaccine through the government vaccination website.
According to the CECC, 5.35 million people who have registered for a Covid-19 vaccine have yet to get their first shot, while 3.31 million have indicated their willingness to get the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.
In other vaccine news, around 595,000 doses of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine arrived in Taiwan on Tuesday.
The latest delivery is the seventh in an order of 10 million doses from the manufacturer.
It pushed the quantity of doses delivered to Taiwan by the company to nearly 3.27 million.
The CECC says people aged 23 to 28, who had registered before 19 July and listed the AstraZeneca vaccine as a choice, can make appointments from 3-4 September to receive their shots from 3-10 September.
