[Asia Economy Reporter Eunmo Koo] The United States will provide 750,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines to Taiwan.
On the 6th, U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (Democrat, Illinois), leading a delegation visiting Taiwan, announced this at a press conference at Taipei Songshan Airport.
Senator Duckworth said, "It was important for the U.S. that Taiwan be included in the first group to receive vaccine support," adding, "We recognize the urgency of Taiwan's situation and value the partnership between our two countries." The U.S. has announced plans to provide 80 million vaccine doses to foreign countries by the end of this month.
Accordingly, Taiwan will receive vaccine support under this plan. South Korea also received 1.01 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson subsidiary Janssen vaccine. However, the specific vaccine Taiwan will receive has not been disclosed. Once considered a model country for quarantine, Taiwan has recently seen a resurgence of COVID-19, making vaccination urgent. Although China has continuously pressured Taiwan to accept vaccine support, Taiwan has refused. Instead, Taiwan received 1.24 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine from Japan.
The delegation, consisting of Senators Duckworth, Dan Sullivan (Republican, Alaska), and Christopher Coons (Democrat, Delaware), will discuss public relations and security issues with Taiwan's senior leaders. There are concerns that this delegation visit could escalate tensions between the U.S. and Taiwan and China, which does not recognize Taiwan as an autonomous country.
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