TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) on Tuesday (Oct. 26) reported that two out of four of the imported COVID-19 infections had received doses of China's Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine (CoronaVac).

A breakthrough infection is defined as a person who has tested positive for COVID-19 at least 14 days after completing the full vaccine schedule. On Monday, Philip Lo (羅一鈞), deputy head of the CECC’s medical response division, said that one of the four imported COVID cases reported that day was a breakthrough infection.

According to Lo, case No. 16,488 is a Filipino man in his 30s who had received two doses of Sinovac and has been classified as a breakthrough infection. Case No. 16,490 is an Indonesian man in his 40s who had only received one dose of the Sinovac jab before arriving in Taiwan and is therefore not being categorized as a breakthrough case.

Lo said the vaccination records of the other two imported cases are still under investigation. On Monday (Oct. 24), the CECC reported that three out of the five imported breakthrough cases that day had been fully vaccinated with Sinovac.

On Saturday (Oct. 23), Singapore's Ministry of Health (MOH) announced that people wishing to be vaccinated with Sinovac must take three doses to be considered fully vaccinated, reported The Straits Times. The MOH stated that people who have already taken one or two Sinovac doses are "strongly encouraged" to take a dose of an mRNA vaccine as it offers "more optimal protection."

Singapore will not allow Sinovac to be administered to people who have received two doses of an mRNA vaccine. The primary reason listed by the MOH to take Sinovac is as an alternative to those who for medical reasons are not able to receive mRNA vaccines.