CORONAVIRUS/Japan pledges 5th batch of vaccine donation to Taiwan -- 500,000 doses of AZ

Taipei, Sept. 14 (CNA) The Japanese government on Tuesday pledged to donate another batch of 500,000 AstraZeneca brand of COVID-19 vaccine to Taiwan, bringing the total doses it has donated to nearly 4 million.

Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi made the announcement during a press event in Tokyo where he said Taiwan has been included in Japan's latest plan to donate AZ vaccines to four Asian countries.

Aside from the 500,000 doses to Taiwan, Motegi also announced it will donate another 400,000 AZ doses to Vietnam, 300,000 to Thailand, and 100,000 to Brunei.

The donation would be the fifth time that Japan has donated COVID-19 vaccines to Taiwan during the pandemic, bringing the total to 3.9 million doses, according to Motegi.

Japan has so far donated over 23 million doses of AZ vaccine to other Asian countries, he added.

In Taipei, Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) again expressed gratitude to Tokyo over the latest pledge of vaccine donation.

MOFA said in a press release that the donation is especially precious given that both Taiwan and Japan are facing severe challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic.

It said the move is another true act of deep friendship between both countries.

Japan first donated 1.24 million doses of AZ to Taiwan on June 4, followed by 1.13 million doses on July 8, another 970,000 doses on July 15, and 64,000 doses on Sept. 7. It has donated more vaccine doses to Taiwan than any other country.