A shipment of 594,000 AstraZeneca (AZ) COVID-19 vaccine doses set to expire on Nov. 30 will first be given to second-dose recipients who received their first shot eight weeks ago, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said Sunday.

The doses, which arrived in Taiwan on Saturday, will be used in a new round of vaccinations that is expected to take place in mid-November, CECC spokesman Chuang Jen-hsiang (???) said during a joint media interview.

Chuang said priority would be given to individuals who received a first dose of the AZ vaccine at least eight weeks ago.

It is estimated that around 1.8 million AZ dose recipients are eligible to receive their second dose in the upcoming round of vaccinations.

The ongoing 13th round of Taiwan's vaccine rollout began on Nov. 5 and will run until Nov. 12.

In response to public concern over the short period of time before the new shipment expires, Chuang said the doses would reach local health departments in time.

The doses, currently in cold storage undergoing inspection, will be distributed to local health departments from Nov. 15, according to Chuang.

Given that around 600,000 to 700,000 doses have been administered in each of the previous round of vaccinations, the CECC believes that the 594,000 AZ doses in the latest shipment will be used before they expire, Chuang said.

He added that domestic vaccination capacity had been evaluated to ensure the AZ doses could be fully administered.

This is not the first time that the government has had to administer a COVID-19 vaccine shipment in a short period of time.

A previous shipment of Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines were administered within 28 days, according to the CECC.

According to Chuang, with an unstable supply worldwide it was difficult to know exactly when vaccine deliveries arrived.

He said the CECC would monitor the administration of the AZ vaccine to avoid wasting any doses.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel