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CECC to review Pfizer's updated Covid vaccine
Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) head Victor Wang says the Food and DrugAdministration (FDA) is expected to review an application for emergency use authorization (EUA) of the Pfizer-BioNTech second-generation coronavirus vaccine.
According to Wang, Pfizer-BioNTech has submitted data to the FDA on its new vaccine and the administration will convene a meeting next week at the earliest and take delivery of the vaccine as soon as possible once an EUA is granted.
If approval is granted, the Pfizer-BioNTech updated vaccine will be the first BA.4 and BA.5 adapted bi-valent vaccine to be made available here in Taiwan. The FDA granted an EUA for the bivalent Moderna vaccine for adults aged 18 years old and above in September.
In other Covid news, the CECC reported 44,628 new coronavirus cases and 42 deaths yesterday. Of that total 44,601 were domestic infections. The CECC says the number of new domestic infections marked a 0.5% decline from Tuesday and a 14.7% drop from a week ago.CECC head Victor Wang says as domestic cases are continuing to trend lower this week compared to last week, infections could start to fall.
Health officials say 147 previously reported cases have now been listed as severe, while 44 others have developed moderate symptoms.
The deceased ranged in age from their 30s to 90s. It brings the number of coronavirus-related deaths here in Taiwan since the pandemic began to 12,038.
