TAIPEI • Taiwan's health minister yesterday warned of further delays in getting more vaccines, even as he reported a stabilisation in new infections.

The government has been struggling to speed up its vaccination programme while it deals with a spike in domestic cases, with only about 3 per cent of the 23.5 million population having received at least one shot.

Taipei said it aimed to get two million more doses by the end of this month, apart from an almost similar number donated by Japan and the US, but Health Minister Chen Shih-chung said there were problems getting the vaccines.

"We hope that by the end of August, 10 million vaccines will reach Taiwan," Mr Chen added, reiterating a previous timetable.

Taiwan has ordered 10 million doses from AstraZeneca and more than five million from Moderna, plus about another five million from the Covax scheme.

Mr Chen announced 219 new domestic Covid-19 cases, slightly up from the 211 reported on Monday, and said positive rates during tests were continuing to fall in the capital, Taipei, and its neighbouring city where cases have been concentrated.

Taiwan has a long holiday this weekend for the Dragon Boat festival, and the government has been urging people to stay put and return train or bus tickets they might have already bought.

The island has reported a total of 11,694 case since the pandemic began, including 308 deaths. The figures, while far fewer than in many other parts of the world, have shocked people in Taiwan which for months had no or very few community cases.

REUTERS