Japan will provide Taiwan with about 1.24 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Britain's AstraZeneca PLC, government sources said Thursday, as the self-ruled island struggles to procure shots.
The vaccine will be transported by aircraft on Friday, according to the sources. "There is an urgent need for Taiwan (to procure vaccines) until it can establish a domestic production system in July," Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said in parliament earlier in the day.
Taiwan, which has been grappling with a dramatic rise in coronavirus cases since May, has blamed China for difficulties in securing COVID-19 vaccines.