HEALTH
VICP pays out for hair loss
A woman who lost all her hair after she was vaccinated against COVID-19 would receive a payout of NT$30,000, the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP) said yesterday. While there was no conclusive evidence directly linking her hair loss to the Moderna vaccine she received, she would be given compensation based on her medical records and tests, it said. The woman, who is in her 40s and lives in New Taipei City, began losing her hair after she was vaccinated, it said, without providing dates. Centers for Disease Control Deputy Director-General Tseng Shu-huai (曾淑慧) said that hair loss can be caused by several factors, including psychological problems, stress and autoimmune disorders. However, those conditions can be triggered by vaccines, she said. The decision to give the woman NT$30,000 was reached on July 27 during a VICP meeting at which 150 cases were discussed and compensation of NT$5,000 to NT$30,000 was awarded to 23 people.
CRIME
Sixteen arrested over death
Sixteen suspects have been arrested after a 19-year-old was beaten to death in New Taipei City, allegedly over a debt dispute, law enforcement officials said on Friday. Three of the 16 suspects are minors, and the youngest is only 13, the officials said. The victim, surnamed Chen (陳), allegedly owed one of the suspects, also surnamed Chen, NT$70,000. At 2am on Thursday, Mackay Memorial Hospital’s branch in Tamsui District (淡水) reported that the victim had bruises and wounds all over his body and it considered his death more complicated than it seemed, they said. An investigation found that the victim had met his creditor at a car wash on Wednesday, the officials said. While there, he was beaten by his creditor and other suspects, before being taken to a rental apartment in Tamsui where he died, they said. The 16 suspects were arrested in Tamsui, Lujhou (蘆洲) and Wugu (五股) districts on Thursday and Friday, the officials said, adding that after being questioned they were handed over to prosecutors on suspicion of committing homicide. The three minors were sent to the juvenile court, they added.
DIPLOMACY
Taipei helps rebuild Ukraine
A kindergarten in Ukraine that was damaged during Russian attacks reopened to students on Thursday with the help of funding from Taiwan. The school, named Ruta, in the northern city of Irpin, was rebuilt through the joint efforts of the Taiwanese and Lithuanian governments, under an initiative implemented via the latter’s Central Project Management Agency (CPMA). Taiwan’s contribution of 1.2 million euros (US$1.3 million) went mainly toward the purchase of furniture and equipment, and landscaping for the playground and surroundings, the Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Facebook on Friday. Reconstruction of the three-story school took eight months, and it can now accommodate 400 kindergarten students, the CPMA said. In June, Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it was donating US$5 million to the CPMA to assist with reconstruction efforts in Ukraine, which included the rebuilding of the kindergarten in Irpin. On Friday, Representative to Lithuania Eric Huang (黃鈞耀) said children are a nation’s future and should not be deprived of their right to education because of the aggression of a totalitarian state. Taiwan is honored to be working with Lithuania to assist in the reconstruction of Ukraine, he said.
Foreign tourists who purchase a seven-day Taiwan Pass are to get a second one free of charge as part of a government bid to boost tourism, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. A pair of Taiwan Passes is priced at NT$5,000 (US$156.44), an agency staff member said, adding that the passes can be used separately. The pass can be used in many of Taiwan’s major cities and to travel to several tourist resorts. It expires seven days after it is first used. The pass is a three-in-one package covering the high-speed rail system, mass rapid transport (MRT) services and the Taiwan Tourist Shuttle services,
Drinking a lot of water or milk would not help a person who has ingested terbufos, a toxic chemical that has been identified as the likely cause of three deaths, a health expert said yesterday. An 83-year-old woman surnamed Tseng (曾) and two others died this week after eating millet dumplings with snails that Tseng had made. Tseng died on Tuesday and others ate the leftovers when they went to her home to mourn her death that evening. Twelve people became ill after eating the dumplings following Tseng’s death. Their symptoms included vomiting and convulsions. Six were hospitalized, with two of them
DIVA-READY: The city’s deadline for the repairs is one day before pop star Jody Chiang is to perform at the Taipei Dome for the city’s Double Ten National Day celebrations The Taipei City Government has asked Farglory Group (遠雄集團) to repair serious water leaks in the Taipei Dome before Friday next week, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said yesterday, following complaints that many areas at the stadium were leaking during two baseball games over the weekend. The dome on Saturday and Sunday hosted two games in tribute to CTBC Brothers’ star Chou Szu-chi (周思齊) ahead of his retirement from the CPBL. The games each attracted about 40,000 people, filling the stadium to capacity. However, amid heavy rain, many people reported water leaking on some seats, at the entrance and exit areas, and the
BIG collection: The herbarium holds more than 560,000 specimens, from the Japanese colonial period to the present, including the Wulai azalea, which is now extinct in the wild The largest collection of plant specimens in Taiwan, the Taipei Botanical Garden’s herbarium, is celebrating its 100th anniversary with an exhibition that opened on Friday. The herbarium provides critical historical documents for botanists and is the first of its kind in Taiwan, Taiwan Forestry Research Institute director Tseng Yen-hsueh (曾彥學) said. It is housed in a two-story red brick building, which opened during 1924. At the time, it stored 30,000 plant specimens from almost 6,000 species, including Taiwanese plant samples collected by Tomitaro Makino, the “father of Japanese botany,” Tseng said. The herbarium collection has grown in the century since its