TAIPEI (REUTERS) - Taiwan raised its Covid-19 alert level for the whole island on Wednesday (May 19) as domestic cases continued to rise, but will get 400,000 more AstraZeneca Plc Covid-19 vaccine doses from the Covax global sharing programme.

Taiwan has reported more than 1,000 new infections during the past week or so, leading to new curbs in the capital, Taipei, and shocking a population that had become accustomed to life carrying on almost normally.

Announcing another 267 local infections, up from 240 on Tuesday, Health Minister Chen Shih-chung said that although the across Taiwan.

There was no need to order a full lockdown for now, and people should not worry too much, he added.

"At present medical capacity is sufficient, so please don't worry," Mr Chen added.

The new curbs for Taiwan restrict personal gatherings and close entertainment venues, steps already in effect in Taipei since the weekend.

In a boost for the island's fight against the pandemic, Mr Chen said more than 410,000 vaccine doses from Covax would arrive on Wednesday afternoon, which he described as "very valuable" and would be prioritised for front-line health care workers.

Cabinet spokesman Lo Ping-cheng told reporters that the additional doses arriving on Wednesday are from Amsterdam, through Covax, which distributes vaccines to lower-income countries.

Taiwan has said it expected to get more than 1 million AstraZeneca shots via Covax. The island has ordered 20 million doses, mostly from AstraZeneca but also from Moderna, though global shortages have curtailed supplies.

Taiwan's government has called for fair access to Covid-19 vaccines during a meeting with senior Western diplomats, as it faces a dwindling supply of shots during a spike in domestic infections.

It has only received a little more than 300,000 to date, all from AstraZeneca. At least two-thirds of those have been distributed.

Taiwan's Centres for Disease Control said in a statement on Wednesday after a virtual workshop on vaccines on Tuesday with the top US, British, Japanese and Australian diplomats in Taipei that nowhere was immune from the pandemic's threat unless everyone controls it.

"Fair access to effective vaccines is the ultimate means to curb the global Covid-19 pandemic. We look forward to more effective and sufficient vaccine development and marketing, and call on all countries to work together to end the Covid-19 pandemic," it said.

Taiwan is mobilising its diplomats to try to speed up access to more vaccines, and is in talks with the United States for a share of the Covid-19 shots President Joe Biden plans to send abroad.

Mr Brent Christensen, the de facto US ambassador to Taiwan, said at the same event that "talking about Covid-19 vaccines can be a sensitive subject", according to a copy of his remarks published by his office.

"We recognise that each country and region is at different stages in their Covid-19 vaccination programmes," the remarks said.

"Unfortunately, many still face difficulties gaining access to vaccines." Taiwan has ordered 20 million doses, mostly from AstraZeneca but also from Moderna, though global shortages have curtailed supplies.

The government says more vaccines are on the way, and hopes domestically developed shots can start being rolled out before the end of July.