Mon, Dec 06, 2021 page1

• COVID-19: Vaccines mandatory in some sectors

  TIGHTENED RULES: Employees in the affected sectors must be fully vaccinated by Jan. 1 or provide an exemption certificate, and they must undergo COVID-19 testing

  • By Lee I-chia / Staff reporter
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  People working in sectors supervised by the education, economics, labor, and health and welfare ministries must be fully vaccinated by next month, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said yesterday.

  “Starting from Jan. 1, vaccination rules for workers at industries supervised by the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the Ministry of Labor, and the Ministry of Health and Welfare will be further enhanced,” said Centers for Disease Control Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥), who is the CECC’s spokesman.

  New employees and those returning to work must provide a negative COVID-19 test result — an antigen rapid test, at-home rapid test or polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test — taken three days before the first day of work, he said.

  

  Centers for Disease Control Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang holds an information card at a briefing in Taipei yesterday.

  Photo courtesy of Centers for Disease Control

  People who have recovered from COVID-19 and have a “Notice for Release From Isolation Treatment” issued by a local health department within the past three months would not need to provide a vaccination record, Chuang said.

  However, they would still need to provide a negative PCR test result taken within three days of starting work and receive a COVID-19 vaccine as soon as possible, he added.

  People with a COVID-19 vaccine exemption certificate issued by a doctor must provide a negative PCR test result obtained within three days of starting work, and also take an antigen rapid test, at-home rapid test or PCR test every week, Chuang said.

  “As the policy takes effect in January, we urge the workers to receive their second dose before December 17,” he said.

  Establishments supervised by the education ministry include: preschools and schools up to the senior-high school level, afterschool childcare centers, community colleges, cram schools, senior citizens’ learning centers, competitive and recreational sports facilities, swimming pools and performing arts rehearsal venues.

  Businesses overseen by the economics ministry include: video recording and broadcasting venues, electronic game arcades, Internet cafes, karaoke halls, KTVs, tabletop gaming centers, mahjong clubs, discos, hostess bars, nightclubs, pubs, video stores, hostess teahouses, saunas, wedding or banquet halls, beauty salons, convention halls and exhibition venues.

  Vocational training facilities are the only establishments overseen by the labor ministry that would be affected by the policy.

  Establishments supervised by the health ministry are infant care centers, community care facilities, dementia community service stations, parent-child centers, childcare resource centers and folk therapy businesses.

  The policy also covers community healthcare and welfare events.

  The CECC said it has set up a vaccination station at Taipei Main Station where Moderna Inc’s COVID-19 vaccine would be offered to eligible recipients through Thursday.

  The vaccination station, in the west corridor of Taipei Main Station’s main hall, is open from 1pm to 8pm, Chuang said, adding that the service is open to Taiwanese and foreigners.

  Eligibility covers people 18 or older, those who have received a first dose of the Moderna vaccine at least four weeks earlier, and people who received a first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine at least eight weeks earlier, he said.

  People who are vaccinated at the station would receive a NT$100 voucher that they can use at Pxmart Co (全聯福利中心) supermarket outlets, the CECC said.

  The CECC yesterday also reported four imported cases of COVID-19: travelers from Indonesia, Laos, Vietnam and the US.
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