Airline personnel should be held to stricter quarantine measures given recent cases of COVID-19 linked to Novotel Taipei Taoyuan International Airport, experts said.
As of yesterday, four employees at Novotel, which is used by China Airlines and other carriers as a quarantine hotel for their crew, had been confirmed to have contracted COVID-19, but how they became infected remains unclear.
The hotel is in a China Airlines complex that comprises the carrier’s headquarters and training facilities.
Since April 20, 10 of the airline’s pilots have tested positive for COVID-19, including one in Australia, and the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) has yet to
Moderna vaccines expected in May
MORE TRUSTWORTHY? While officials investigate whether the shelf life of AstraZeneca vaccines can be extended, the Moderna jab might boost inoculations
By Jake Chung / Staff writer, with CNA
Shipments of Moderna COVID-19 vaccines are due to arrive in Taiwan next month, while another batch of AstraZeneca vaccines allotted to Taiwan under the COVAX program is due to arrive by June, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said yesterday.
The Chinese-language
Apple Daily reported that the Moderna vaccines might arrive at the end of this month or next month.
The center in February said that Moderna had agreed to supply about 5 million doses to Taiwan, although at the time the center estimated that they would arrive in the middle of this year.
AstraZeneca jab’s benefits outweigh risks: ministry
NO SUSPENSION: The risk of embolism as a side effect of the vaccine might be lower in Asia, where more people have adenovirus antibodies, a virus expert said
Staff writer, with CNA
The Ministry of Health and Welfare yesterday recommended that the rollout of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine should continue, adding that people would be informed of all known risks.
The European Medicines Agency in a statement Wednesday said that “unusual blood clots with low blood platelets should be listed as very rare side effects” of the vaccine.
“The reported combination of blood clots and low blood platelets is very rare, and the overall benefits of the vaccine in preventing COVID-19 outweigh the risks of side effects,” the statement said.
2021/02/08 11:50 Taoyuan General Hospital, epicenter of a COVID cluster Taoyuan General Hospital, epicenter of a COVID cluster (CNA photo) TAIPEI (Taiwan News) Taiwan is considering building a dedicated pandemic hospital in the wake of the Taoyuan hospital cluster outbreak that has made national headlines over the past month. The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) declared on Sunday (Feb. 7) that the threat of further infections from the northern Taiwan hospital has been defused after rigorous COVID-19 testing provided all negative results. While urging the public not to let their guard down, Health Minister and CECC head Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) said authorities are mulling establishing a hospital devoted to pandemic control. They will also review the standard response procedures for a potential community outbreak, he added at a news briefing on Sunday.