April 27, 2022 – Page 2 – Taiwan News Gazette

April 27, 2022

CORONAVIRUS/Taiwan to sign deal for Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines this week: official

Amid concerns over stalled progress on Taiwan’s planned purchase of Pfizer-BioNTech (BNT) COVID-19 vaccines which would include child versions, a health official said Wednesday a deal was expected to be signed “this week,” though he did not elaborate on the details.

Taiwan “should be able to sign a deal this week,” said Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Hsueh Jui-yuan (???) at a meeting of the Legislature’s Culture and Education Committee, though he did not comment on how many of the vaccines would be the version for children, and when they were expected to arrive.

The meeting was held to discuss preparations for the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines for children aged 6-11 on May 2. The only vaccine available for children in Taiwan currently is Moderna.

“How many of the 1.5 million doses are for children?” opposition Kuomintang legislator Lin Yi-Hua (???) asked Hsueh at the meeting, referring to the Pfizer-BioNTech doses that Health and Welfare Minister Chen Shih-chung (???) has said Taiwan will receive. “Many parents of schoolchildren are looking forward to the BNT vaccines and are asking about the procurement progress.”

Chen had said April 18 that Taiwan would receive about 1.5 million Pfizer-BioNTech doses in May, including special doses for children aged 5-11, if the negotiations on that deal went smoothly.

Taiwan’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorized on April 17 the use of the Moderna vaccine for children aged 6-11, but the decision has sparked concerns from parents that it might not be safe for children.

Asked about the low willingness of parents to have their children get vaccinated, Hsueh said the ministry would try its best to provide sufficient information to parents so that they would not base their decision “on emotions.”

A survey released by the Taipei City government on Tuesday showed that only 48.5 percent of parents are willing to have their children receive a vaccine, according to Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chang Liao Wan-chien (????) at the meeting.

Education Minister Pan Wen-chung (???) told the committee that his ministry would work with schools to help parents understand the risks and benefits of vaccinations.

Schools will be asked to issue vaccination instructions and parental consent forms to parents as soon as possible, at least seven days prior to the administration of vaccines, Pan said.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel

April 27, 2022

CORONAVIRUS/Taiwan to start rationing sale of COVID-19 rapid test kits

The sale of COVID-19 rapid test kits in Taiwan will be rationed with effect from Thursday, and they will be available at controlled prices at contracted pharmacies and public health centers throughout the country, Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (???) said Wednesday.

Under the government’s rationing plan, buyers will be required to present their National Health Insurance (NHI) card or Alien Resident Certificates (ARC) to buy one test kit each on designated days, said Chen, at a press briefing of the Central Epidemic Command Center he heads.

The last digit of the identification card number will determine which days the holder will be able to purchase a COVID-19 rapid test kit, he said.

The kits will be sold on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays to people with an odd number as the last digit on their cards, while those with an even number will be able to buy the tests on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, Chen said.

On Sundays, the kits will be available to anyone who holds an NHI card or Taiwan government-issued ARC, he said.

The 10 million packets that will be distributed each contain five rapid tests, which will be sold under the rationing plan at a controlled price of NT$500 (US$17) per kit, he said.

Some 4,909 NHI-contracted pharmacies and 58 public health centers throughout the country will sell the rationed test kits, Chen said, adding that information about the specific pharmacies can be found on the websites of the National Health Insurance Administration, the Food and Drug Administration, and the Federation of Taiwan Pharmacists Associations (all in Chinese only).

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel

April 27, 2022

Taiwan pledges US$500,000 to help victims of Somaliland fire

Taiwan’s government has pledged to donate US$500,000 to the self-declared state of Somaliland to help the victims of a massive fire at its biggest market earlier this month, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) announced Wednesday.

A huge fire broke out at the Waheen market, Somaliland’s major trading and financial hub, on April 1, and authorities have estimated its economic impact at US$2 billion, or 60 percent of the de facto state’s gross domestic product, according to Al-Jazeera.

The blaze has seriously affected the livelihoods of thousands of people, and MOFA pledged the donation to offer emergency humanitarian assistance to those affected, said MOFA spokeswoman Joanne Ou (???).

The Somaliland government expressed its gratitude for the donation and said it will arrange a public ceremony at which the funds will be officially handed over, according to Ou.

Taiwan’s government will also work with other like-minded countries to jointly help Somaliland to rebuild the market in the future, she said.

According to the Somaliland government, a total of 1,000 shops and 4,200 stalls and tables in the market were destroyed, and over 17,000 people who relied directly on the market were affected.

Twenty-seven people were severely injured in the fire and rushed to the hospital for treatment, government figures showed.

Somaliland declared independence from Somalia in 1991 after years of conflict. It has offices in about a dozen countries, according to its foreign ministry’s website, but does not have formal diplomatic relations with any nation.

Relations between Taiwan and Somaliland have warmed over the years, with Taipei opening a representative office in Somaliland’s capital Hargeisa on Aug. 17, 2020, and the Somaliland authorities opening a reciprocal office in Taipei the following month on Sept. 9.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel

April 27, 2022

CORONAVIRUS/Taiwan reports 8,923 COVID-19 cases, two deaths

Taiwan reported 8,923 new COVID-19 cases, as well as 16 moderate and severe infections, and two deaths from the disease on Wednesday, according to the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC).

The new daily cases, which marked a single-day high, consisted of 8,822 domestically transmitted infections and 101 cases that were contracted abroad.

The CECC also reported that two Taiwanese nationals, in their 50s and 70s, died from the disease.

Both men — one classified as a domestic case and the other one imported — had cancer and had received two doses of COVID-19 vaccine.

Of the 42,844 domestic cases recorded nationwide from Jan. 1 to April 26, 120 have been classified as moderate infections and 12 as severe, accounting for 0.28 percent and 0.03 percent of the total, respectively.

All other cases have displayed either mild symptoms or have been asymptomatic, according to the CECC.

New Taipei reported the highest number of domestic cases on Wednesday with 3,241, followed by Taipei with 1,892, Taoyuan with 1,452, Keelung with 476, and Taichung with 356.

Hualien County reported 237 cases, Kaohsiung 268, Tainan 179, Yilan County 135, Hsinchu County 110, Changhua County 98, Hsinchu City 82, Pingtung County 63, Yunlin County 62, Miaoli County 53, Nantou County 35, Chiayi County 24, and Taitung County 23.

Chiayi City and Penghu County both 12 each, Kinmen County reported 10 cases, and the Matsu Islands two, the CECC said.

Meanwhile, of the 101 new imported cases, 84 were travelers who tested positive on arrival in Taiwan, according to the CECC.

To date, Taiwan has confirmed 76,938 COVID-19 cases since the pandemic began in early 2020, including 66,266 domestically transmitted infections. As of April 27, Taiwan recorded 51,666 domestic cases for 2022.

With two deaths reported Tuesday, the number of confirmed COVID-19 fatalities in the country reached 858.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel