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US sends Taiwan 2.5 million vaccine doses, tripling pledge

Taiwan Vaccines
AP
In this photo released by the Taiwan Centers for Disease Control, Taiwan's Health Minister Chen Shih-chung, third from left, and Brent Christensen, the top U.S. official in Taiwan, fourth from left, hold up thank you cards as they welcome a China Airlines cargo plane carrying COVID-19 vaccines from Memphis that arrived at the airport outside Taipei in Taiwan on Sunday, June 20, 2021.
Taiwan Vaccines
Posted at 5:29 PM, Jun 20, 2021
and last updated 2021-06-20 20:29:47-04

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — A plane with 2.5 million doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine has arrived in Taiwan from the U.S. in a donation with both public health and geopolitical meaning.

The China Airlines cargo flight touched down late Sunday afternoon. The donation more than triples an earlier U.S. pledge of 750 million doses for the self-governing island that is claimed by China.

It signals Washington's support for Taiwan in the face of growing pressure from China.

Taiwan had been relatively unscathed by the virus.

But it's been caught off guard by a surge in new cases since May, and is now scrambling to get vaccines.

Copyright 2021 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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