The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday announced the latest round of vaccinations, which expands the eligibility for those registered to get a first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine and for those registered to get a second dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine.
The new eligibility allows people aged 30 or older — who registered their willingness to get the vaccine on the national online COVID-19 vaccination booking system by noon yesterday — to get the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine as their first dose.
Those registered could sign up for a vaccination appointment from 4pm yesterday to noon today, the center said, adding that the appointments would be part of the latest round of vaccinations, which are to take place from tomorrow to Wednesday next week.
Photo: Peter Lo, Taipei Times
The new eligibility also allows people aged 41 to 44 who received their first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine on or before Aug. 6 to get their second dose, it said, adding that the period for making appointments would close at noon today.
Initially, eligibility for a second dose of AstraZeneca was limited to people who got their first dose of AstraZeneca on or before July 30, and to people aged 45 or older who got their first dose on or before Aug. 6.
This round would also allow people who got their first dose of the Moderna vaccine on or before July 16 to get a second dose of Moderna, the center said, adding that the period for making appointments would close at noon today.
People interested in receiving the Moderna, Pfizer-BioNTech or AstraZeneca vaccines can register for them on the online platform, while people interested in getting the locally developed Medigen vaccine can make an appointment directly with a hospital or clinic that administers it.
After this round, the platform must be updated to accommodate the mix-and-match approach, which is to be available in the next round, the center said.
The center has said that, in the new round, people who received AstraZeneca as their first dose could opt to receive Pfizer-BioNTech as their second dose.
Presently, the mix-and-match approach is only an option for medical workers and hospital personnel, who can get AstraZeneca as their first dose and Moderna as their second.
To date, 16.1 million people — or 68.7 percent of Taiwan’s population of 23.43 million people — have received at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose, while 28.5 percent — or 6.6 million people — have received two doses.
Yesterday, the center reported four new imported cases of COVID-19 infection, but no locally transmitted cases or deaths.
In other news, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed its appreciation after the Japanese government yesterday pledged to donate another 300,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses to Taiwan, which would bring its total donations to 4.2 million doses.
Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs Toshimitsu Motegi told a news conference that the vaccines are to be delivered today.
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