Taiwan premier, health minister receive first dose of COVID-19 vaccine

Taiwan premier Su Tseng-chang and the Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-Chung received their first shots of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine on Monday as the country began administering the vaccines against coronavirus.

After getting his jab at National Taiwan University Hospital in Taipei, Su told reporters that he felt no pain or discomfort and hoped the public would follow his lead and get vaccinated, according to Focus Taiwan.

As per reports, Shuang Ho Hospital Superintendent Wu Mai-szu, serving as the first medical worker in Taiwan after receiving the AstraZeneca shot, said it was like taking any other vaccine and he was not at all worried.

The COVID-19 vaccine program in Taiwan started Monday at 57 designated hospitals after the country received its first batch of 117,000 AstraZeneca doses on March 3, Focus Taiwan reported.

According to the Central Emergency Command Center, priority will be given to medical staff and other workers at hospitals, clinics and quarantine centres, and then to people working in the field of epidemic prevention.

Taiwan has signed contracts to purchase a total of 10 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, 5.05 million doses of the Moderna vaccine, and 4.76 million doses of unspecified brands through the COVAX allocation program.

However, Taiwan has managed to obtain only 117,000 doses of AstraZeneca so far.

( With inputs from ANI )