Earlier this month, three US senators visited Taiwan with a message: the United States intended to donate 750,000 COVID-19 doses to Taiwan. Fast forward to two weeks later, and the US has more than tripled its initial pledge.
That’s not luggage coming out of that airplane. Those are COVID vaccines. 2.5 million doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine, to be exact, coming straight from the US. The shipment arrived on Sunday, and health authorities are hoping to start administering doses in seven days.
On June 6, three visiting senators announced upon arrival that the US intended to donate 750,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines to Taiwan. However, 750,000 became 2.5 million—more than tripling the amount the senators promised.
Health Minister Chen Shih-chung and the United States’ representative to Taiwan Brent Christensen were both present when the vaccines touched down in Taiwan.
Chen says that the US has come through for Taiwan in its hour of need. Christensen says he was glad that the US added 1.75 million doses to its initial pledge. He says that the donations are a sign of the United States’ commitment to Taiwan.
Here the two are giving thumbs up in front of the shipment!
Taiwan’s national carrier China Airlines sent a cargo jet to pick up the vaccines from Memphis, Tennessee—a destination that the airline doesn’t usually fly. The plane took off on Saturday evening and made a stop in Los Angeles, before heading back to Taiwan.
Chen says that this latest vaccine shipment is more than enough to cover vaccinations for frontline medical workers and high-risk groups. He says that the health ministry will also make inoculations available to other groups further down the priority list.