Japan has announced that it will donate an additional 1.3 million doses of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine to Taiwan and other Asian neighbors, including 300,000 doses to Thailand.
Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said Taiwan will get 500,000 more doses, bringing Japan’s total donation to the island to 3.9 million. The latest donations will go out as soon as possible, and includes another 400,000 shots for Vietnam, 300,000 for Thailand and 100,000 to Brunei.
He said Japan has, so far, given more than 23 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, produced in Japan, to countries in South Asia and the Pacific islands. Additionally, Japan has pledged US$1 billion and 30 million doses to the COVAX program, overseen by the GAVI alliance and the World Health Organization.
According to government data, Japan has fully vaccinated 50% of its population. The country has relied mainly on imported mRNA-type vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna for its domestic inoculation program, choosing to give away most of its supplies of AstraZeneca. (NNT)
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