A surge in domestic Covid-19 cases in Taiwan after months of relative safety is intensifying pressure on the government to accept vaccines from China, as the island has vaccinated just one per cent of the population with no immediate sign of new shots arriving.

The Chinese-claimed island and Beijing have repeatedly sparred over the pandemic since it began. Taipei accuses Beijing of spreading fake news and preventing its full participation at the World Health Organisation, while Beijing says Taipei is playing political games with its people's lives by refusing Chinese vaccines.

Taiwan has only received about 700,000 vaccine doses to date, all from AstraZeneca Plc, which are rapidly running out. It has millions more on order, including from Moderna Inc.

Over the weekend, Hung Hsiu-chu, a former head of Taiwan's main opposition party, the Kuomintang (KMT), said the government should allow in Chinese vaccines as soon as possible, saying that they are internationally accepted and that Taiwan cannot wait.