TAIPEI (Reuters) – Taiwan will begin its COVID-19 vaccination programme on Monday, Health Minister Chen Shih-chung said on Friday, using AstraZeneca Plc shots that were approved for use this week by the government.
Taiwan’s first vaccines – 117,000 doses of the AstraZeneca shot – arrived on the island earlier this month from a South Korean factory.
Chen told reporters that officials had now given the go-ahead for the shots to start being administered from Monday, and that they would be given at 57 vaccination sites around the island.
Around 60,000 people are in line to get the first vaccinations and Taiwan is prioritising health workers to get the shots.
In December, Taiwan said it had agreed to buy almost 20 million vaccine doses, including 10 million from AstraZeneca.
More than a dozen European countries suspended use of the vaccine this week amid concerns about its safety, though the World Health Organization’s European director said on Thursday the benefits of the shot far outweigh any risks, and its widespread use resumed on Friday.
Chen said he would have “no problem” taking the shot himself.
Taiwan’s government has played down concerns about the late start to the vaccination programme, saying that with such a low case rate there is not the urgency that exists in other countries where the pandemic remains rampant.
Only 35 people remain in hospital being treated for COVID-19 in Taiwan. The island has kept the pandemic well under control thanks to early and effective prevention, including largely closing its borders.
(Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Jan Harvey)
