Taiwan took delivery Monday of a shipment of over 600,000 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, which will be prioritized for use as booster shots for children aged 12-17, according to the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC).
The 602,550 Pfizer-BioNTech doses arrived at Taoyuan International Airport on Monday morning, and were transferred to a cold chain logistics center to undergo inspection, CECC head Victor Wang (???) said at a press briefing.
Wang said the new batch of vaccines expires on March 21, 2023, and will be used primarily as booster shots for children aged 12-17, many of whom received first and second shots of the same brand in the second half of 2021.
Earlier this year, Taiwan inked deals to purchase 3.3 million Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines for children aged 5-11, 1.9 million doses for young children aged 6 months to 4 years, and 1.8 million doses for adults, with an option to buy an additional 4 million adult vaccines if needed.
To date, Taiwan has taken delivery of 2.20 million vaccine doses for children aged 5-11, 1.27 million doses for children aged 6 months to 4 years, and 2.46 million doses for adults, according to the CECC.
As of Aug. 22, 92.4 percent of those eligible in Taiwan had received a first shot of a COVID-19 vaccine, while 86.4 percent had received a second shot, and 72.0 percent had gotten a first booster.
Among children, 94.7 percent of those aged 12-17 had received at least one vaccine shot, compared to 78.1 percent of those aged 5-11 and 19.2 percent of those aged 6 months to 4 years, the statistics show.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel