Taiwan 1st country in Asia to approve Moderna's BA.5 booster

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Taiwan 1st country in Asia to approve Moderna's BA.5 booster | Taiwan News | 2022-10-27 16:11:00

600,000 Omicron BA.4/BA.5 bivalent mRNA vaccine to arrive in Taiwan early November | 2022-10-27 16:11:00

www.taiwannews.com.tw

Taiwan is the first country in Asia to approve Moderna's Omicron BA.4/BA.5 bivalent mRNA vaccine booster, with the first batch of 600,000 jabs set to arrive in early November.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Wednesday (Oct. 26) said that it had issued emergency use authorization (EUA) for the two adapted bivalent vaccines that target the BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants of Omicron. This includes the Moderna Omicron BA.4/BA.5-adapted bivalent COVID-19 vaccine and the Pfizer-BNT equivalent.

The FDA said that these boosters are suitable for adolescents and adults aged 13 and over. The shots can be administered as soon as three months after the previous booster dose.

During a press conference on Thursday afternoon (Oct. 27), CECC Spokesman Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥) said the first batch of 600,000 doses of the new Moderna jabs will arrive in early November. Chuang said that Taiwan was the first country in Asia to approve the Moderna BA.4/BA.5 bivalent mRNA vaccine, while Japan was the first in the region to approve the Pfizer-BNT version.

Chuang said that unlike the Moderna booster for the original strain from Wuhan and the BA.1 subvariant which is currently being administered Taiwan, the next-generation bivalent vaccine was tested by both manufacturers in clinical trials on subjects aged 12 and over. Therefore, Chuang said that the latest boosters are considered safe for Taiwan residents aged 12 and over.