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First Covid-19 vaccines could arrive in February or June
Courtesy of ICRT
Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) spokesman Zhuang Ren-xiang says Taiwan and other non-United Nations member countries will be allotted 1.3 million doses of the coronavirus vaccine in the first round of COVAX vaccine distribution.
According to Zhuang, the delivery date is expected to be between this month and June.
The COVAX global vaccine-sharing initiative is backed by 190 participating countries to ensure equitable worldwide access to vaccines.
And it published its first distribution list on Wednesday, with enough doses for dozens of countries to immunise more than 3% cent of their populations by mid-this year.
The CECC spokesman says although Taiwan is not on the list as it is not a UN member, it and five to eight non-UN member countries will share 1.3 million vaccine doses from AstraZeneca PLC, in the first round of distribution.
AstraZeneca's coronavirus vaccine has not been authorised by the World Health Organization for emergency use.
However, Zhuang says it is expected to receive approval later this month and could be administered in Taiwan one week after the first shipment arrives.
The COVAX initiative has announced its plan to distribute more than 330 million doses to developing nations in the first half of this year.
In its interim distribution plan, the COVAX vaccine-sharing facility says the doses will cover an average of 3.3% of the total population of the 145 countries participating in the initial round of distribution.
The COVAX initiative was launched in April last year to ensure the rapid and equitable distribution of coronavirus vaccines to rich and poor countries alike.
Led by the World Health Organization and numerous other international health groups, it has since been joined by 190 countries.
But it was shunned by the United States, partly because former President Donald Trump did not want to work with WHO.
