 |
| Vials labelled "AstraZeneca COVID-19 Coronavirus Vaccine" and a syringe are seen in front of a displayed AstraZeneca logo, in this illustration photo taken March 14, 2021. (File photo by=REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration) |
[Asia News = Reporter Reakkana] TAIPEI: President Tsai Ing-wen announced on Friday (Jun 11) that Thailand prioritizes AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines produced in the country for itself due to the severity of the pandemic there, delaying deliveries to Taiwan, Reuters reported.
Taiwan faces a rise in domestic infections and only 3 percent of its 23.5 million people have received at least one shot of vaccination so far, with millions of doses on the order that has yet to arrive. "The problem is that the goods that were supposed to have arrived in June have not," Tsai told a Taiwanese radio station. Taiwan has ordered 10 million doses from AstraZeneca which is mainly producing the shots in Thailand, she said. Taiwan's Health Minister Chen Shih-chung told lawmakers on Tuesday that orders from AstraZeneca would be delayed by a month due to production problems at the firm's Thai plant.
Meanwhile, AstraZeneca didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. Taiwan received 1.24 million AstraZeneca doses donated by Japan last week, and the United States has pledged 750,000 shots, but no details have been provided on that. Tsai said the government had been having "emergency" talks with the United States and Japan to see what other vaccines they may be able to give.
