Japanese newspaper Sankei Shimbun has published a call for Japan’s government to provide Taiwan with doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine.
A column published in the newspaper on Wednesday discussed Taiwan’s recent difficulties getting doses of COVID-19 vaccines amid a growing outbreak of the disease. The column looks back on Taiwan’s aid to Japan during previous times of need, including after the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake, and more recently, a donation of two million masks after China put controls on masks exports last year, causing a panic in Japan.
The column says the time has come for Japan to repay Taiwan’s kindness, and it can do so with its supply of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine. Japan has signed a contract with AstraZeneca for 120 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine this year. That’s enough to fully vaccinate 60 million people. However, Japan has already secured enough doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines for its own citizens’ use, and Japan does not plan to use its supply of the AstraZeneca vaccine since reports from Europe said that some people who received this vaccine developed blood clots.
The column also says that many of the AstraZeneca vaccines Japan will receive will be made within Japan’s own borders, and that Japan should quickly arrange to get Taiwan the vaccine doses it needs.
China has already objected to talk of Japan giving Taiwan COVID-19 vaccine doses, including a May 28 statement by Japan’s foreign minister. But the column says that Japan’s government does not need to pay attention to this Chinese criticism.