The Japanese government is planning to donate 1.2 million AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines to Taiwan to help ease a recent spike in cases on the island, Japan’s public broadcaster NHK reported.

Japan’s government will begin preparations for vaccine shipments from Friday, NHK said.

Japan’s foreign minister had earlier said the country was coordinating efforts to provide COVID-19 vaccines to Taiwan within June.

Motegi Toshimitsu said at a parliamentary session that it was his understanding that Taiwan urgently needed vaccines, and the island may have prepared for the production of its own jabs after July.

Minister for Administrative Reform and Regulatory Reform Kono Taro said the Japanese government was discussing plans to provide AstraZeneca vaccines to Taiwan, as it was easier to store and transport compared with the BioNTech and Moderna vaccines.

The lack of vaccines in Taiwan has become a political crisis for President Tsai Ing-wen.

The YongLin Healthcare Foundation, established by Foxconn founder Terry Gou, has said it would procure five million doses of BioNTech vaccines. But Central Epidemic Command Center head Chen Shih-chung said the foundation’s application did not include an authorization letter from the manufacturer.

Director-General of Taiwan Centers for Disease Control Chou Jih-haw said vaccines were wanted everywhere, and authorization letters from manufacturers can ensure their source and quality, and prevent scams. The government was willing to assist companies who wished to procure vaccines, he said.

As of Thursday noon, 9,095 people participated in an online opinion poll conducted by Apple Daily Taiwan over the vaccine issue. 84.7% of the respondents said they strongly supported Gou’s act, 4.6% said they fairly supported it, 3.8% said they fairly opposed it and 6.3% said they strongly opposed it.

Of the respondents, 55.2% said they did not support any political parties, 13.6% said they supported the Democratic Progressive Party, 16.6% said they supported the Kuomintang party and 13% said they backed the Taiwan People’s Party.

Meanwhile, former Government Information Office director-general Chung Chin and KMT lawmaker Cheng Cheng-chien launched a flash mob car protest surrounding the presidential office to campaign for more COVID-19 vaccines. Almost 100 private cars, taxis and motorcycles joined the event.

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