The Central Epidemic Command Center says that testing and inspection of a recently-arrived shipment of the AstraZeneca vaccine will take a little longer than planned. 117,000 doses of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine arrived in Taiwan on Wednesday.
Taiwan’s Food and Drug administration granted emergency authorization for the vaccine last month. At that time, it said authorities could begin administering doses within seven days if all tests were successful and there were no issues with documentation. But officials say that since this shipment is the first COVID-19 vaccine Taiwan has received, it will take longer than a week to process.
The command center says that when the roll-out of COVID-19 vaccines begins, the public will be able to use an online map to find their nearest vaccination center. People will also be able to book appointments and see which vaccines centers have.
The command center will also issue guidelines to hospitals. It says off-duty medical staff should receive the vaccine first. That’s so that if they develop mild symptoms, it’s clear they haven’t caught the virus from a patient.