Millions of doses on their way to Taiwan, says minister

TAIPEI • Millions of Covid-19 vaccine doses are on their way to Taiwan, the health minister said yesterday, as he extended virus-related restrictions until the middle of next month even though the trend in new infections is declining.

Having spent months keeping the coronavirus at bay, Taiwan is dealing with a spike in domestic infections, exacerbated by a low vaccination rate of only about 1 per cent of its population.

Health Minister Chen Shih-chung said two million vaccine doses would arrive by the end of next month and 10 million by the end of August, though he did not give details, only saying that the numbers included domestically developed vaccines. Taiwan has ordered more than 20 million doses from AstraZeneca and Moderna.

Dr Chen, however, made no mention of China's offer to send vaccines and medical staff, which has drawn an angry response from Taiwan's government.

China's policy-making Taiwan Affairs Office said on Monday it was extremely concerned about the epidemic currently "raging" in Taiwan, noting that it had repeatedly offered help to the island. Certain groups and people in Taiwan have been calling for the purchase of Chinese vaccines, it added.

In response, Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council said China had not used any of the existing channels between the two to provide information about its vaccines, and implied that Beijing was behind Taiwan's difficulties in getting more doses.

Taiwan has repeatedly said it does not trust Chinese vaccines, and has been angered by what it says are Beijing's efforts to obstruct its access to the World Health Organisation, including the body's annual ministerial assembly that opened earlier on Monday.

Meanwhile, a senior US administration official told Reuters that the "strong partnership on Covid-19" between Washington and Taipei would continue, and reiterated that the US would give away at least 80 million doses around the world by the end of next month. "Importantly, our shots don't come with strings attached," the official said.

China views Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen and her ruling Democratic Progressive Party as separatists bent on formally declaring the island's independence. Ms Tsai says China has no right to speak for Taiwan and has denounced it for increased military activities near the island over the past year, which have continued even as Taipei battles increased Covid-19 cases.

Yesterday, Dr Chen said that while infection numbers had continued to fall since Monday last week, positive rates remained high.

While current measures were effective, he said he was concerned about "hidden spreaders" in the community, which the authorities were not able to detect due to a time lag in getting test results.

His ministry has been criticised by the opposition for a logjam with recording positive Covid-19 tests due to reporting delays following the surge in cases.

"The worry is that...we are not able to control the hidden cases during this time period, which could lead to a worsening pandemic," said Dr Chen.

The authorities are also scrambling to track the whereabouts of 300 people who tested positive for Covid-19 in the capital and neighbouring New Taipei City, Dr Chen said, urging local governments to work with the police to find those patients.

Taiwan's Level 3 measures, one rung below its highest alert level, will be extended to June 14.

Taiwan reported 542 new domestic Covid-19 cases yesterday, including 261 cases added to the total tally for days over the past week or so as it continues to readjust its infection numbers following delays in reporting positive tests. Taiwan has seen a cumulative total of 5,456 infections and 35 deaths so far.

REUTERS