In this June 4, 2021, file photo released by the Taiwan Centers for Disease Control, workers unload vaccines from a plane from Japan at the airport at the international Airport in Taoyuan, Taiwan. (Taiwan Centers for Disease Control via AP)

       TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Japan will provide Taiwan with some 1.13 million more doses of the AstraZeneca Plc coronavirus vaccine later this week, Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said Tuesday.

       The latest donation, to be delivered Thursday after a request from Taiwan, follows an initial batch of about 1.24 million doses transferred to the island in early June.

       The vaccine was developed by the British company and produced under license in Japan, according to the Foreign Ministry.

       "As people in Taiwan face difficulties, we hope that the vaccine from Japan will contribute to preventing the spread of infections," Motegi said in a press conference.

       Japan is also considering offering additional doses to Indonesia, where infections of the highly contagious Delta variant are spreading quickly, after delivering 1 million doses to the country last Thursday, Motegi said.

       Japan has enough AstraZeneca doses for 60 million people and approved their use in May, but it does not intend to use them immediately due to rare cases of blood clots reported overseas.

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