Taiwan aims to cover 60 per cent of its population with at least one dose of coronavirus vaccine by October, the health minister said, adding that the island's infection rate was not good, despite its pandemic curbs.

“If we turn on all the firepower for vaccination, the coverage for the first shot could reach 60pc,” Health Minister Chen Shih-chung told a daily news briefing.

Authorities will use a combination of imported and home-made vaccines to reach that fraction of a population of more than 23 million by the end of October, he said, adding that even coverage of 40% would be effective to curb the outbreak.