Taipei, May 29 (IANS): The Taiwan government will only import Covid-19 jabs through direct contracts with original vaccine manufacturers, a top official said here on Saturday.

Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) chief Chen Shih-chung expressed gratitude for the goodwill initiatives by entrepreneurs and religious organisations to assist procurement or donations of vaccines, but emphasized that "since vaccines go into human bodies", their quality, efficacy, safety and liability must be assured, reports dpa news agency.

Chen said any prospective intermediaries needed to produce direct authorisations from the original manufacturer and that, after the introduction, the Taiwan government "will arrange the procurement through direct discussions with the original manufacturer."

Chen did not mention any new developments regarding the consideration by the Japanese government of supplying Taiwan with some of the AstraZeneca vaccine Tokyo procured from the British-Swedish multinational.

However, Taiwan's state-run CNA news agency reported that the Japanese government has begun talks with AstraZeneca to alter their original procurement contract to permit Japan to supply jabs to Taiwan.

The island is working to get an outbreak that erupted in early May under control.

Taiwan reported 21 new fatalities on Saturday, bringing the total death toll to 99.

So far there has been 7,806 cases in a population of 23.6 million.