FocusTaiwan: U.S. to deliver 2.5 million doses of Moderna vaccine to Taiwan Sunday

[Hamartia Antidote]

U.S. to deliver 2.5 million doses of Moderna vaccine to Taiwan Sunday - Focus Taiwan

Taipei, June 19 (CAN) The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) said Saturday that 2.5 million doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine will be delivered to Taiwan Sunday as a donation from the United States.

focustaiwan.tw

Taipei, June 19 (CAN) The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) said Saturday that 2.5 million doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine will be delivered to Taiwan Sunday as a donation from the United States.

In a Facebook post, the AIT said the shipment will include the 750,000 doses announced by the U.S. on June 6, and an additional 1.75 million doses.

"The donation reflects our commitment to Taiwan as a trusted friend and a member of the international family of democracies," wrote the AIT, the de facto American embassy in Taiwan.

"Wheels up! Our donation of 2.5 million vaccine doses is on the way to Taiwan, whose health partnership with the U.S. helped save lives here and around the world. @StateDept is proud to support @POTUS' commitment to help the world defeat COVID-19," U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price tweeted.

On June 6, U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth announced upon her arrival in Taipei that her country would donate 750,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses to Taiwan, as part of its plan to share at least 80 million vaccines doses globally.

Taiwan is facing a vaccine shortage amid an outbreak of domestically transmitted COVID-19 infections, with only 6 percent of its 23 million population having received at least one shot.

President Tsai Ing-wen's (蔡英文) administration has accused Beijing of interfering with Taiwan's attempts to purchase vaccines from the German company BioNTech (BNT).

Taiwan's government reportedly was close to securing 5 million vaccine doses from BNT earlier this year, but the deal fell through due to BNT's refusal to sign the final contract, citing a "re-evaluation of global vaccine supply and adjusted timelines."

China has denied the accusations and has said Taiwan can obtain the BNT vaccines through Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical (Group) Co., the distributor of the BNT vaccine in the Greater China area.

On May 28, Taiwan received 150,000 Moderna doses, a fraction of its order for 5.05 million doses from the American company. It received a second shipment of the Moderna vaccine containing some 240,000 doses Friday.

About half of the total 20 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines ordered by Taiwan from abroad are the AstraZeneca brand, and delivery has been very slow.

Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Saturday thanked the United States for tripling its vaccine donation to Taiwan, saying that it shows the U.S.' firm support for Taiwan.

The ministry said Taiwan's Representative to the U.S. Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) had accepted the donation on behalf of the Taiwan government, at the Memphis airport in Tennessee, where the vaccines were loaded on a flight operated by Taiwan's China Airlines. The flight is expected to arrive in Taipei Sunday evening, the ministry said.

"The Taiwanese people are deeply moved and will not forget the timely support from democratic partners. Taiwan is committed to continuing to work side by side with the U.S. and partners around the world to contribute to global health," Taiwan's representative office in the United States said in a statement.

 

[Yongpeng Sun-Tastaufen]

I know the US is the only country that can possibly donate vaccine to Taiwan, but Russia and Europe don't have diplomatic recognition of Taiwan so they cannot donate vaccine to Taiwan.

 

[UKBengali]

While this is welcome, the US needs to get away from playing too much geopolitics on vaccines and start donating on the basis of need.

BD has been well and truly screwed by the Indians who have left 1.5 million BD'shis exposed with a single AstraZeneca dose, who are not effectively protected against the Indian Delta variant unless they get the 2nd dose, and it could have done with that number of those doses from the vast US 80 million stockpile that the Americans have wanted to give away since the start of May.

If the US is to win hearts and minds and make progress against the Chinese then they need to start prioritising vaccine donations on need and not just purely on geopolitics.

 

[Yongpeng Sun-Tastaufen]

If the US is to win hearts and minds and make progress against the Chinese then they need to start prioritising vaccine donations on need and not just purely on geopolitics.

The US needs to donate billions of doses to Africa, Mexico, South America to counter Chinese vaccine donations in the 3rd world. China is making significant soft power inroads in the 3rd world by donating vaccines.

 

[Hamartia Antidote]

While this is welcome, the US needs to get away from playing too much geopolitics on vaccines and start donating on the basis of need.

BD has been well and truly screwed by the Indians who have left 1.5 million BD'shis exposed with a single AstraZeneca dose, who are not effectively protected against the Indian Delta variant unless they get the 2nd dose, and it could have done with that number of those doses from the vast US 80 million stockpile that the Americans have wanted to give away since the start of May.

If the US is to win hearts and minds and make progress against the Chinese then they need to start prioritising vaccine donations on need and not just purely on geopolitics.

This is similar to the N95 mask shortage issue. You can't make 1 Billion masks a day to cover demand.

 

[UKBengali]

This is similar to the N95 mask shortage issue. You can't make 1 Billion masks a day to cover demand.

I think you have not actually read my comment.

BD has 165 million population and gets 100,000 doses of Pfizer(through Covax) and Taiwan gets 2.5 million doses of Pfizer for a population of less than 30 million.

Unbelieveably, US wants to reward India for its irresponsibility in both unleashing the new Delta variant throughout the world by giving it more AstraZeneca doses and when India has illegally withheld 10s of millions of AstraZeneca doses that countries that BD signed legally binding contracts and paid for back in 2020!

If US wants to beat China in world influence then it needs to be little more smarter in vaccine diplomacy. China has already gifted BD 1.1 million doses of their not so good vaccines.

 

[Mista]

I think you have not actually read my comment.

BD has 165 million population and gets 100,000 doses of Pfizer(through Covax) and Taiwan gets 2.5 million doses of Pfizer for a population of less than 30 million.

Unbelieveably, US wants to reward India for its irresponsibility in both unleashing the new Delta variant throughout the world by giving it more AstraZeneca doses and when India has illegally withheld 10s of millions of AstraZeneca doses that countries that BD signed legally binding contracts and paid for back in 2020!

If US wants to beat China in world influence then it needs to be little more smarter in vaccine diplomacy. China has already gifted BD 1.1 million doses of their not so good vaccines.

You think Taiwan or Bangladesh is more important to US foreign policy?

 

[Hamartia Antidote]

You think Taiwan or Bangladesh is more important to US foreign policy?

As if we gave a larger portion to Bangladesh 50 other countries wouldn't suddenly jump up and complain. Where does this "make them happy" chain begin and end?