The Japanese government is considering sharing with Taiwan some of its supply of the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Britain's AstraZeneca Plc, Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said Friday, in a bid to help the self-ruled island struggling to procure shots.
The move comes as Taiwan faces an urgent need to secure vaccines amid a dramatically growing number of coronavirus cases over the past week and difficulties in securing COVID-19 vaccines that it has blamed on China. As of Thursday, only about 1 percent of Taiwan's population had received a first shot.
"Taiwan has supported us in various ways and immediately collected money during the Great East Japan Earthquake 10 years ago," said Motegi during a press conference.
Japan, which started its inoculation program in mid-February, last week approved AstraZeneca's vaccine developed by the British drugmaker and the University of Oxford. It already has an agreement with AstraZeneca to secure enough doses for 60 million people.
However, the vaccine will not be immediately used in the country amid lingering concerns over rare cases of blood clots being reported overseas, according to the health ministry.
Even with its offer to Taiwan, Japan will have sufficient vaccine for all of its residents aged 16 and older, having also signed supply agreements for the vaccines developed by U.S. pharmaceutical companies Pfizer Inc. and Moderna Inc.
Japan, which has no formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan, is apparently looking into providing the vaccine through private companies and organizations to avoid drawing China's ire, according to Japanese officials.
Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen welcomed Japan's offer, posting a Twitter message saying she "offers heartfelt appreciation for the deep friendship."
In the message posted in Japanese, Tsai said, "Taiwan-Japan relations show that through cooperation, democratic countries can strengthen each other's governance, similar to how a vaccine can give people immunity."
"I am happy to see that our commitment to coming together to get through difficult times has become stronger than ever before," she added.
Tsai blamed China on Wednesday for intervening in its purchase talks with BioNTech SE, Pfizer's German coronavirus vaccine development partner. Taiwan had been close to securing a vaccine deal with the company.
Tokyo does not plan to go through the COVAX Facility, a U.N.-backed program aimed at ensuring a fair supply of coronavirus vaccines to developing countries, the officials said.
