Starting next month, all 332,000 medical personnel nationwide are to have priority access to COVID-19 shots, Centers for Disease Control Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥), who is spokesman for the Central Epidemic Control Center (CECC), said yesterday.
Based on the COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access (COVAX) list, 200,000 doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine should arrive as early as next week, the center said.
Chuang said that about 140,000 people — including central and local government officials who oversee disease prevention, personnel who have first contact with potential COVID-19 patients and Customs Administration personnel — are second in line to receive the vaccine.
Photo: Reuters
Third in line are about 90,000 officers in the police and military police, and others who work to maintain order in society, he said.
Fourth in line are about 158,000 social welfare workers, workers at daycare facilities for elderly people and employees of the Long-Term Care program, while about 200,000 military personnel are fifth, he said.
Centers for Disease Control Director-General Chou Jih-haw (周志浩) said vaccines requiring ultra-cold temperatures would be stored at hospitals, while vaccines requiring storage at temperatures of 2°C to 8°C would be distributed to the lower levels of government.
Local governments and hospitals are teaming up to develop a preregistration system, he said.
Also yesterday, Taiwan added one new imported case of COVID-19, bringing the nation’s total to 941 cases, the center said.
Coming to Taiwan to work on a fishing vessel, an Indonesian in his 20s entered the nation on Feb. 4, Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center, told a news briefing in Taipei.
As required, the man provided a negative COVID-19 test result prior to his flight and quarantined at a government-designated facility upon his arrival, Chen added.
The man was tested for COVID-19 on Wednesday and the result returned positive yesterday, Chen said, adding that he was asymptomatic.
On Thursday, a research team at National Tsing Hua University (NTHU) announced that it has developed a rapid test for determining a vaccinated person’s level of protection against COVID-19.
The test kit analyzes the concentration of neutralizing antibodies in a vaccinated person, NTHU Institute of Biomedical Engineering professor Cheng Chao-min said.
The rapid COVID-19 antibody detection kit, which works on any mRNA-based vaccine, uses fingerstick serology testing to detect antibodies related to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, Cheng said.
Compared with traditional testing methods, which can take about 24 hours, NTHU’s rapid test kit provides results in just 15 minutes, he added.
Like with a blood-glucose meter, people can take the test seven to 10 days after receiving their first COVID-19 vaccine shot, Cheng said.
Two lines on the tester means that the vaccine has produced a sufficient amount of neutralizing antibodies, while one line means that it has not, he said.
Unfortunately, as with experiences with other types of vaccines, Cheng said there is still no definitive answer as to the level of protection, as each person has a different reaction to a vaccine.
Generally, a vaccine that increases the amount of neutralizing antibodies by 30 percent is considered “effective,” while above 80 percent is considered “highly effective,” Cheng said.
Of Taiwan’s 941 COVID-19 cases, 825 have been classified as imported. Nine people have died, while 888 have recovered and 44 remain in hospital, CECC data showed.
NATIONAL SECURITY THREAT: An official said that Guan Guan’s comments had gone beyond the threshold of free speech, as she advocated for the destruction of the ROC China-born media influencer Guan Guan’s (關關) residency permit has been revoked for repeatedly posting pro-China content that threatens national security, the National Immigration Agency said yesterday. Guan Guan has said many controversial things in her videos posted to Douyin (抖音), including “the red flag will soon be painted all over Taiwan” and “Taiwan is an inseparable part of China,” while expressing hope for expedited “reunification.” The agency received multiple reports alleging that Guan Guan had advocated for armed reunification last year. After investigating, the agency last month issued a notice requiring her to appear and account for her actions. Guan Guan appeared as required,
A strong cold air mass is expected to arrive tonight, bringing a change in weather and a drop in temperature, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The coldest time would be early on Thursday morning, with temperatures in some areas dipping as low as 8°C, it said. Daytime highs yesterday were 22°C to 24°C in northern and eastern Taiwan, and about 25°C to 28°C in the central and southern regions, it said. However, nighttime lows would dip to about 15°C to 16°C in central and northern Taiwan as well as the northeast, and 17°C to 19°C elsewhere, it said. Tropical Storm Nokaen, currently
‘NATO-PLUS’: ‘Our strategic partners in the Indo-Pacific are facing increasing aggression by the Chinese Communist Party,’ US Representative Rob Wittman said The US House of Representatives on Monday released its version of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, which includes US$1.15 billion to support security cooperation with Taiwan. The omnibus act, covering US$1.2 trillion of spending, allocates US$1 billion for the Taiwan Security Cooperation Initiative, as well as US$150 million for the replacement of defense articles and reimbursement of defense services provided to Taiwan. The fund allocations were based on the US National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2026 that was passed by the US Congress last month and authorized up to US$1 billion to the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency in support of the
PAPERS, PLEASE: The gang exploited the high value of the passports, selling them at inflated prices to Chinese buyers, who would treat them as ‘invisibility cloaks’ The Yilan District Court has handed four members of a syndicate prison terms ranging from one year and two months to two years and two months for their involvement in a scheme to purchase Taiwanese passports and resell them abroad at a massive markup. A Chinese human smuggling syndicate purchased Taiwanese passports through local criminal networks, exploiting the passports’ visa-free travel privileges to turn a profit of more than 20 times the original price, the court said. Such criminal organizations enable people to impersonate Taiwanese when entering and exiting Taiwan and other countries, undermining social order and the credibility of the nation’s
RSS