Over 156,000 Taiwan compatriots receive COVID-19 vaccines on mainland

A Taiwan compatriot receives a dose of COVID-19 vaccine at Shanghai Guanghua Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine in east China's Shanghai, April 19, 2021. (Xinhua/Liu Ying)

BEIJING, Sept. 15 (Xinhua) -- More than 156,000 Taiwan compatriots received COVID-19 vaccines, with a total of 290,000 jabs administered as of Aug. 31, a mainland spokesperson said Wednesday.

In keeping with local vaccination plans, some localities have started offering COVID-19 shots to mainland-based Taiwan students between 12 and 17 years old, Zhu Fenglian, a State Council Taiwan Affairs Office spokesperson, told a press conference.

"On the mainland, nobody needs to worry about having no access to COVID-19 vaccines, and fellow Chinese abroad, including Taiwan compatriots, who should be and want to be vaccinated, can also have access to China-made vaccines," Zhu said.

With the help of a mainland-supported program, several thousand overseas Taiwan compatriots based in dozens of countries, including Thailand, Vietnam, Georgia, and Mauritius have received shots of Chinese or foreign COVID-19 vaccines, she added.

Noting that on Taiwan island people still find it difficult to get access to COVID-19 vaccines, Zhu said the mainland has several times voiced its readiness to assist Taiwan compatriots in battling COVID-19 to its best ability and help them secure access to the jabs, which remains a major concern of the mainland.

The mainland spokesperson expressed the hope that the Democratic Progressive Party authority in Taiwan will refrain from placing politics above science and instead value the interests of Taiwan people and take actual steps to protect their lives and health.