CORONAVIRUS/Taiwan in talks to buy Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines for kids under 5

Taipei, June 20 (CNA) Taiwan's Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said Monday that it was negotiating a deal to purchase Pfizer-BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine for kids under 5, as it received a new batch of the vaccine for children aged 5-11.

The new shipment delivered Monday consists of 504,000 doses that will expire on Sept. 30. They will be administered as first and second doses to children between 5 and 11.

Taiwan signed a contract in late April to purchase 1.8 million doses of the vaccine for adults, which have all been delivered, and 2.2 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for children, of which 1.6 million have been delivered.

Lo Yi-chun (羅一鈞), deputy head of the CECC's medical response division, said Monday that the CECC was also negotiating a deal to purchase Pfizer-BioNTech's vaccine for children from 6 months to 4 years old.

It is urging the manufacturer to submit information on the vaccine to Taiwan's Food and Drug Administration so that it can proceed with the emergency use authorization (EUA) process.

To date, 91.17 percent of Taiwan's population have received at least one dose, 82.69 percent have gotten at least two doses, and 69.34 percent have gotten a booster shot.

A total of 778,623 children aged 5-11 have gotten their first Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine dose, while 285,447 6-11-year-olds have received a Moderna vaccine dose, amounting to about 74.4 percent of the 5-11 age group.

Taiwan granted EUA to the Moderna vaccine for children aged 6 months to 5 years on Friday. A total of 450,000 doses of the vaccine, which can supply up to 900,000 shots for children in the age group, will be delivered to Taiwan in early July, with the rollout expected to begin later that month, according to Lo.