CNA file photo
Taipei, May 5 (CNA) Taiwan has granted authorization for emergency use of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine, and the first batch is expected to be delivered this month, Health Minister Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) said Wednesday.
At a press briefing, Chen said the emergency authorization was issued on April 22 by Taiwan s Food and Drug Administration for the vaccine, which is produced by the American pharmaceutical company Moderna, Inc.
On the question of the delivery of the vaccine, Chen said he could not give a precise date but estimated it would be sometime in May.
The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) has received no information about delays of the Moderna shipment, said Chen, who heads the CECC.
Novotel Taipei Taoyuan International Airport. CNA file photo
Taipei, May 3 (CNA) Taiwan s Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said Monday it intends to designate one hotel as the only place to accommodate flight crew members of foreign carriers during layovers to prevent COVID-19 outbreaks in the future.
Though the CECC did not explain why the decision was made, it suspects that a recent COVID-19 cluster at an airport hotel resulted from hotel housekeepers catching the virus of a pilot or pilots of foreign carriers when cleaning their rooms after they checked out.
The plan was discussed at a meeting convened by the CECC earlier Monday to improve epidemic control measures involving flight crew members.
Cabinet proposes pushing planned LNG terminal further out to sea
05/03/2021 11:33 PM
The Datan LNG terminal project under construction (image taken from the CPC Corp., Taiwan website)
Taipei, May 3 (CNA) The Cabinet on Monday proposed to move a controversial liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal from its planned location further away from the coast in northern Taiwan to avoid damaging a coastal algal reef environmentalists want protected.
The proposal was presented by the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) at a meeting earlier Monday attended by Cabinet officials and lawmakers of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) at the invitation of Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌).
Taipei, May 2 (CNA) Taiwan-based StarLux Airlines Co. said Sunday it is considering pushing back the start date for its flights to the the United States, from 2022 to 2023, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Taiwan reports decade-high 8.16% in Q1 economic growth
04/30/2021 08:51 PM
CNA photo April 30, 2021
Taipei, April 30 (CNA) Taiwan recorded an 8.16 percent growth in real gross domestic product (GDP) in the first quarter of the year, the highest since Q4, 2010, according to statistics released Friday by the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS).
The figure marks a rise of 1.96 percentage points from the agency s estimate of 6.20 percent in February, the DGBAS said in its GDP estimate for Q1 2021, attributing the strong growth to domestic production capacity expansion and persistent investment, as well as better-than-expected exports and investment.
Based on the estimate, the real GDP grew by 12.93 percent on a quarter-on-quarter seasonally adjusted annualized basis and 8.16 percent on a year-on-year basis in Q1, the agency said.