Taiwan seeks more vaccines from US amid virus surge

Amid a surge in coronavirus cases, reports say authorities in Taiwan have been searching for 300 people who tested positive for coronavirus.

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The country has witnessed a surge in cases.

However, it hasn't been able to ramp up its vaccination drive with just one per cent population receiving the jab.

Taiwan's government officials have requested the Biden administration for more vaccines. 

Earlier, China had offered vaccines to the country but it was rejected by Tsai Ing-wen who accused the Chinese leadership of blocking the BioNTech vaccine.

The Taiwan government had ordered 20 million vaccines from AstraZeneca and Moderna, but just 700,000 shots have arrived so far.

Last week, the country had raised the COVID-19 alert level due to the rising number of cases as authorities moved to close the nation to non-resident foreigners for a month.

Authorities had detected  267 locally transmitted infections as the country reported over 1,200 local infections in five days. 

The government has imposed Level 3 alert, closing down entertainment and sports venues, including libraries and sports stadiums.

Level 4 would mean a total lockdown of the country.

The country had successfully contained the virus for the past one year, reporting just over 6,000 cases and 46 deaths.