Starting tomorrow, elderly people and people at high risk of developing severe COVID-19 would be eligible for a second booster dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said yesterday.
Eligible recipients must have had their booster shot at least five months earlier, the center said.
The move aims to reduce the risk of moderate or severe COVID-19 among a certain group of people, said Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center.
Photo: CNA
Eligibility covers people aged 65 or older, residents of long-term care centers and people aged 18 or older who are immunocompromised, but have a stable health condition, he said.
Eligible immunocompromised people include those who have received immunosuppressive drugs for cancer treatment in the past year, organ or stem cell transplant recipients, people with moderate or severe congenital immune deficiencies and patients on dialysis, the CECC said.
They also include HIV-positive people, people who are taking immunosuppressive drugs, those who have received chemotherapy or radiation therapy in the past six months, and people with other conditions who doctors consider immunodeficient or immunocompromised and eligible for a booster shot, it said.
Eligible recipients can choose from a half-dose of the Moderna vaccine, a full dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, a full dose of the Medigen vaccine or a full dose of the Novavax vaccine — which has yet to be approved — for their booster shot, regardless of the brand of the doses they previously received, Chen said.
As of Friday, the nation’s COVID-19 vaccination coverage rates had reached 85.5 percent for a first dose, 80.6 percent for a second dose and 62.3 percent for a first booster dose, he said.
The center continues to encourage elderly people and people at high risk of severe illness to get fully vaccinated as soon as possible, he added.
Taipei and New Taipei City government officials are aiming to have the first phase of the Wanhua-Jungho-Shulin Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line completed and opened by 2027, following the arrival of the first train set yesterday. The 22km-long Light Green Line would connect four densely populated districts in Taipei and New Taipei City: Wanhua (萬華), Jhonghe (中和), Tucheng (土城) and Shulin (樹林). The first phase of the project would connect Wanhua and Jhonghe districts, with Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Chukuang (莒光) being the terminal stations. The two municipalities jointly hosted a ceremony for the first train to be used
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday said it is fully aware of the situation following reports that the son of ousted Chinese politician Bo Xilai (薄熙來) has arrived in Taiwan and is to marry a Taiwanese. Local media reported that Bo Guagua (薄瓜瓜), son of the former member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, is to marry the granddaughter of Luodong Poh-Ai Hospital founder Hsu Wen-cheng (許文政). The pair met when studying abroad and arranged to get married this year, with the wedding breakfast to be held at The One holiday resort in Hsinchu
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon this morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan between Friday and Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The storm, which as of 8am was still 1,100km southeast of southern Taiwan, is currently expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, the CWA said. Because of its rapid speed — 28kph as of 8am — a sea warning for the storm could be issued tonight, rather than tomorrow, as previously forecast, the CWA said. In terms of its impact, Usagi is to bring scattered or
An orange gas cloud that leaked from a waste management plant yesterday morning in Taoyuan’s Guanyin District (觀音) was likely caused by acidic waste, authorities said, adding that it posed no immediate harm. The leak occurred at a plant in the district’s Environmental Science and Technology Park at about 7am, the Taoyuan Fire Department said. Firefighters discovered a cloud of unidentified orange gas leaking from a waste tank when they arrived on the site, it said, adding that they put on Level A chemical protection before entering the building. After finding there was no continuous leak, the department worked with the city’s Department
RSS