The US triples its vaccine donations to Taiwan as the island battles an outbreak

The United States is more than tripling its vaccine allocation to Taiwan, as the island battles a Covid-19 outbreak and resists pressure from Beijing to take China's homegrown inoculations. Washington has shipped 2.5 million Covid-19 vaccine doses to Taipei, the US State Department spokesperson Ned Price tweeted on Saturday. The Moderna shots are set to arrive Sunday evening local time in Taiwan, according to the island's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

After a wildly successful initial run of keeping case numbers down, Taiwan is now battling its first major outbreak and scrambling to combat its low vaccination rate: just 6 doses have been administered per 100,000 people.

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