Japan continues its support to Taiwan by sending another batch of the COVID-19 vaccine. The third batch of donated antiviral drugs will arrive in Taiwan this week.
Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi confirmed on Tuesday that the AstraZeneca shots would be sent on Thursday, which would bring the country’s total donations to Taiwan so far to almost 3.4 million doses.
The first batch was sent in June, followed by a second donation earlier this month. Such continuous support is a further show of support for the Chinese-claimed island which is now ramping up immunization.
Taiwan’s top diplomat warmly thanked Japan for lending the hand in the toughest-ever times. Japan is facing its own serious coronavirus situation but helps others:
“The friendship between Taiwan and Japan is unwavering. The Foreign Ministry once again thanks our partners in freedom and democracy for their warm assistance and strong support,” Taiwanese foreign ministry said.
Taiwan is rapidly expanding its vaccination programme, though so far only around one-tenth of its 23.5 million people have received at least one of the two-shot modes. But the government has millions of doses on order.
The island’s own relatively small domestic corona crisis has now generally been brought under control, though there remain sporadic community COVID-19 cases, Reuters reported.
