TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — More than 2 million AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine doses will reach their expiration date in May, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) is trying to find ways to donate them, reports said Saturday (March 5).

According to the latest figures, 47.79 million vaccine doses have been administered in Taiwan. First-dose coverage has reached 82.94% and second-dose coverage 77.1%, while 43.82% have received a booster shot.

A total of 15.2 million AstraZeneca jabs have been administered, but there are still more than 2 million doses left which will gradually expire until late May, CNA reported. As the brand is not recommended for booster shots, a significant number of the doses are expected to go unused.

MOFA is contacting the nation’s diplomatic allies to gauge their interest in receiving the vaccines as donations. If nobody offers to take the jabs, they will be destroyed or handed to academic institutions, according to Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥), the spokesman for the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC).

An estimated 50,000 to 80,000 doses of the Taiwan-made Medigen vaccine stand to expire each month from April through June. However, demand is still high, so there will probably be no need to destroy them, he said.