After months of relative safety, Taiwan has been dealing with a spike in domestic infections and is at its second-highest alert level, with gatherings restricted, entertainment venues shut and students shifted to on-line learning.

Taiwan has been trying to ensure that the millions of vaccines it has on order will arrive sooner, and on Sunday visiting US Senator Tammy Duckworth said the US government would send the island 750,000 doses as part of a broader global donation plan.

“Follow up coordination work for shipping the 750,000 doses of vaccines provided by the United States has already begun, and they will soon be sent to Taiwan by air,” Tsai said in a live broadcast from her office, without giving details.

“I promise that the government will do everything in its power to strive for a more stable supply of vaccines,” she added.

The brief visit of Duckworth and two other senators angered China, which views Taiwan as its own territory. China’s Foreign Ministry said it had lodged “stern representations” with the US about the trip.

China has offered Taiwan vaccines, but the government in Taipei has expressed concerns about their safety.

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