Taiwan has received a shipment of 410,000 doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine. The doses arrived from Amsterdam Wednesday afternoon, as Taiwan continues to face both a vaccine shortage and a local outbreak of COVID-19. Only about 8% of Taiwan’s population of 23.5 million has been vaccinated.
The Central Epidemic Command Center says that on February 8, it signed a contract for an order of 5.05 million doses of Moderna vaccine doses. The first batch of 150,000 doses came on May 28, and the second batch of 240,000 doses came on June 18.
The United States also donated 2.5 million Moderna vaccine doses to Taiwan on June 20.
The Moderna vaccine has been found to be 94% effective in preventing infection with COVID-19. The vaccination process requires two shots that are taken at least 28 days apart.