Taiwan signs local deals for up to 20 mln COVID shots

TAIPEI - Taiwan's government has signed deals with two local companies to provide up to 20 million doses of their COVID-19 vaccines, the official Central News Agency said on Sunday, in a boost to the island's pandemic fight.

The news comes days after the Chinese-claimed island blamed Beijing week for blocking a deal earlier this year for BioNTech SE vaccines, which China denies. After recording just a handful of daily infections for months, Taiwan is dealing with relatively large numbers of community transmissions, though infection rates are starting to fall.