(Reuters) – American pharmaceutical company Moderna Inc will supply its COVID-19 vaccine to the governments of Taiwan and Colombia, the company said, supplying five million and 10 million doses, respectively.
Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine has not yet been approved for use in Taiwan or Colombia and the company’s statement said it will work with regulators to seek necessary approvals before distribution.
Deliveries are expected to start in mid-2021, the company added.
In late December, Taiwan said it agreed to purchase nearly 20 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, including 10 million from British pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca, with the remainder coming from the global COVAX vaccine program and an unidentified company.
Taiwan has not yet announced the deal with Moderna and has kept details of its vaccine plans a secret, citing trade secrets.
Taiwan’s Health Minister Chen Shih-chung told reporters that the vaccines, which are due to be given in two doses 28 days apart, should start arriving around May or June, with a deal signed for 5, 05 million doses.
“We will do our best to pressure you to supply them as quickly as possible,” Chen said on Wednesday.
This week, the Taiwanese government said it would also receive 200,000 doses of COVAX’s AstraZeneca vaccine, with vaccines possibly starting next month.
The government has acted to assure its people that it is working hard to ensure access to vaccines and is also developing vaccines in the domestic market, albeit at a slower pace.
However, the authorities have also indicated that with the pandemic under control in Taiwan, there is no urgent need for vaccines that some other countries are facing. There are currently only 73 active cases being treated at the hospital.
Germany last week evaded a call from Taiwan for its help in providing COVID-19 vaccines. Berlin had already asked the Asian technology powerhouse to ease a crisis in the supply of semiconductors in the automotive industry, potentially sparking China’s ire.
Either way, the vaccine supply is tight globally.
(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Bengaluru; Additional reporting by Ben Blanchard in Taipei; Editing by Lincoln Feast and David Goodman)