TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The CECC held a special press conference at 10:30 a.m. Monday afternoon (Feb. 1) denying that over 100,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine will be delivered to Taiwan.

During an emergency press briefing on Monday, health minister and CECC head Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) emphasized that reports that 100,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine are coming to Taiwan Thursday (Feb. 4) are false. Chen said that when shots are available, they will be distributed, and a public announcement will be made as soon as possible.

He reiterated that the CECC has not yet received notification about the air delivery of any vaccines from manufacturers. A report published by UDN on Monday claimed that the CECC has obtained more than 100,000 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine via diplomatic channels in the U.S. and that Emirates Airlines was to deliver them to Taiwan by Thursday.

When a vaccine is delivered, it is believed that Taiwan's over 650,000 healthcare workers will be prioritized in the first round of vaccinations, according to the UDN report.

On Friday (Jan. 29), the EU imposed export controls on vaccines such as AstraZeneca produced by British pharmaceutical companies in the trading block. This raised concerns that the export controls would delay the CECC's planned rollout of AstraZeneca in Taiwan in March.

On Sunday (Jan. 31), health minister and CECC head Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) said the first batch of vaccines from AstraZeneca was scheduled to be delivered soon but that new EU rules could affect the timeline. On Saturday (Jan. 30), European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced that the EU had reversed its plans to impose export controls on vaccines bound for the U.K. via Northern Ireland after talks with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.