TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — With testing of the AstraZeneca vaccine complete, Taiwan will start its inoculation campaign against the coronavirus next Monday (March 22) at the earliest, Health and Welfare Minister Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) announced Wednesday (March 17).

The decision follows suspensions of AstraZeneca vaccinations by several European countries amid worries about side effects. Chen said a commission of experts will still review the test results from Taiwan’s first batch of vaccines on March 19 before reaching a final verdict, CNA reported.

A total of 117,000 doses of the vaccine arrived in Taiwan from South Korea on March 3, raising hopes that residents of Taiwan could soon be vaccinated and maybe travel overseas again. On Wednesday, the government also announced the launch of a “travel bubble” with its Pacific island ally Palau scheduled for April 1.

At Friday’s meeting, the Taiwan Centers for Disease Control (CDC) commission will review international data about the vaccine’s effectiveness and likely problems before deciding on a go-ahead. Details about how to manage the vaccination campaign and which members of the population should not use the AstraZeneca product will also be worked out by the group, Chen said.

The minister also said a list had been drawn up of hospitals where the inoculations will be conducted, with delivery to start soon.

If the AstraZeneca plant in South Korea sent over more vaccines, the procedure to approve them could be accelerated up to seven days, but if the next batch came from the company’s factory in India, the review would have to begin again from the start, according to Chen.