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.

Speaking earlier at his daily news conference, Taiwan Health Minister Chen Shih-chung said the government was still awaiting further details on the US vaccines, but that relevant paperwork should be completed soon.

Around 3 percent of Taiwan’s 23.5 million people have received at least one vaccine shot so far. The government is preparing to ramp up vaccinations, depending on when its orders arrive.

“We didn’t buy the vaccines late — we started signing [contracts] from September. The problem at the moment is supplies,” Chen said.

The government announced on Monday it would extend its COVID-19 restrictions until June 28 and schools would remain shut until the summer vacation.

“At present the pandemic has not yet stabilized,” the Cabinet said.

The extension of the restrictions had been widely expected.

Taiwan will this week start distributing 1.24 million AstraZeneca Plc vaccines donated by Japan on Friday, while the first of 150,000 doses received of the Moderna Inc vaccine will start being given on Wednesday.

Chen announced 211 new infections on Monday, down from 343 the day before. The drop, however, could be due to a lower number of tests at the weekend, he said.

The government has reported 11,491 cases and 286 deaths since the pandemic began.

Meanwhile, South Korea’s respect for intellectual property rights makes it an ideal partner for the US as it seeks to decouple its supply chains from China and forge partnerships to manufacture coronavirus vaccines, a trio of US senators said on Saturday during a visit to Seoul.

Democrats Duckworth and Chris Coons, and Republican Dan Sullivan, were in South Korea as part of their first official overseas trip since the pandemic began.

After last month’s summit in Washington between US President Joe Biden and South Korean President Moon Jae-in — who was only the second international leader to be welcomed by Biden — the senators said their visit was sign of the importance Washington places on South Korea’s role in countering China and shoring up global supply chains amid the pandemic.

“We can trust in the legal system here, and we can trust that our intellectual property rights will be protected,” Duckworth told a group of reporters.

“South Korea is a logical partner. This is critical whether it is manufacturing [computer] chips or pharmaceuticals.”

A day after Biden and Moon met, US drugmakers Moderna Inc and Novavax Inc entered into a deal with South Korea for their COVID-19 vaccines to be manufactured in the country, which has been seeking to secure more and faster deliveries of US-made vaccines.

When asked about criticism that Moderna’s vaccine would not be fully manufactured in South Korea, Duckworth said the arrangement was the first of its kind for the US.

“Remember we’re not doing this anywhere else in the world,” she said. “Let’s make that clear.”