An online COVID-19 vaccination booking system is to be unveiled today and a trial is planned on three outlying islands, the Central Epidemic Command Center said yesterday.
Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center, said the online booking system, designed by Minister Without Portfolio Audrey Tang (唐鳳), would be launched soon and details about how to make an appointment through the system would be announced today.
Tang has discussed the system’s implementation with local governments and the assistance of many administrative personnel would be needed, so it would be discussed again at a meeting with local governments at 8am today before training sessions are arranged, Chen said.
Photo: CNA
Tang has also discussed holding a trial of the system on the islands in Kinmen, Penghu and Lienchiang counties, he said, adding that the center would use the data gathered, such as how many people sign up, as a reference when planning nationwide vaccination strategies.
Meanwhile, Chen said that 1,536,920 doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine have been distributed to local governments.
The first batch of 643,020 doses was delivered on Thursday last week, and the second batch of 893,900 doses was delivered yesterday, he said, adding that 20 percent of people aged 65 to 74 are expected to be covered.
Photo courtesy of the Executive Yuan
The most doses would go to New Taipei City, with 165,200, followed by Taipei with 124,600, Kaohsiung with 102,060, Taichung with 91,420 and Taoyuan with 78,260, data showed.
Asked about a report that a batch of about 580,000 to 620,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine is expected to arrive in Taiwan tomorrow, Chen said: “We will announce it when they arrive, which will probably be soon.”
As of yesterday morning, 2,518,860 doses of COVID-19 vaccines had been administered in Taiwan and the vaccination coverage rate was about 10.52 percent of the population, data showed.
Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥), who is the center’s spokesperson, said the incidence of side effects from a first dose of the AstraZeneca or Moderna vaccine is higher among younger people.
After receiving their first dose, about 60 percent of people aged 18 to 49 reported pain at the injection site, while only about 40 percent of those aged 50 to 64 and about 20 percent of those older than 65 reported the side effect.
About 30 to 40 percent of people aged 18 to 49 reported having a fever after receiving a first dose, while only about 10 to 20 percent of those older than 50 reported the side effect, he added.
Twenty-one deaths after COVID-19 vaccination had been reported between Saturday and yesterday, and two of them had received the Moderna vaccine, Chung said.
Further investigation would be needed to determine whether there was a causal relationship between the vaccine and death, Chen said.
ECONOMIC RESILIENCE: Only 11.4 percent of Taiwan’s overseas investments last year were in China, and businesses are dispersing their investments elsewhere, Lai said China’s ambition to annex Taiwan is based on a desire to change the rules-based international order, rather than a desire for territorial gains, President William Lai (賴清德) said in an interview. During an appearance on the talk show The View With Catherine Chang, aired last night, Lai said China aimed to achieve hegemony, and that peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait was an issue of worldwide concern. During the interview, Lai also discussed his “four-pillar plan” for peace and prosperity, which he first outlined in an article published by the Wall Street Journal on July 4 last year. That
‘REGRETTABLE’: TPP lawmaker Vivian Huang said that ‘we will continue to support Chairman Ko and defend his innocence’ as he was transferred to a detention facility The Taipei District Court yesterday ruled that Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) be detained and held incommunicado over alleged corruption dating to his time as mayor of Taipei. The ruling reversed a decision by the court on Monday morning that Ko be released without bail. After prosecutors on Wednesday appealed the Monday decision, the High Court said that Ko had potentially been “actively involved” in the alleged corruption and ordered the district court to hold a second detention hearing. Ko did not speak to reporters upon his arrival at the district court at about 9:10am yesterday to attend a procedural
Thirty Taiwanese firms, led by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and ASE Technology Holding Co (日月光投控), yesterday launched a silicon photonics industry alliance, aiming to accelerate the medium’s development and address the energy efficiency of artificial intelligence (AI) devices like data centers. As the world is ushering in a new AI era with tremendous demand for computing power and algorithms, energy consumption is emerging as a critical issue, TSMC vice president of integrated interconnect and packaging business C.K. Hsu (徐國晉) told a media briefing in Taipei. To solve this issue, it is essential to introduce silicon photonics and copackaged optics (CPO)
The High Court yesterday overturned a Taipei District Court decision to release Taiwan People’s Party Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) and sent the case back to the lower court. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office on Saturday questioned Ko amid a probe into alleged corruption involving the Core Pacific City development project during his time as Taipei mayor. Core Pacific City, also known as Living Mall (京華城購物中心), was a shopping mall in Taipei’s Songshan District (松山) that has since been demolished. On Monday, the Taipei District Court granted a second motion by Ko’s attorney to release him without bail, a decision the prosecutors’ office appealed
RSS