The Central Epidemic Command Center yesterday unveiled the national online COVID-19 vaccination booking system and announced that a trial program was launched on three outlying islands yesterday morning.
Minister Without Portfolio Audrey Tang (唐鳳), who designed the system, said that after discussions with local governments, they mostly agreed that the system should be used for scheduling vaccinations for those aged under 65, so it would be launched when the ninth and 10th priority groups are eligible for vaccination.
The ninth priority group is people aged 18 to 64, who have a high-risk disease, a rare disease or catastrophic illness; while the 10th priority group is people aged 50 to 64.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
The vaccination booking system requires four steps — “registration, receiving a text message informing a person to book an appointment, booking an appointment and receiving a vaccine according to the scheduled appointment.”
While people with a rare disease or catastrophic illness have a certificate, people with a high-risk disease would be determined from their National Health Insurance (NHI) medical record, Tang said.
Tang said the registration Web site, 1922.gov.tw, was launched yesterday, and eligible recipients in the ninth and 10th priority groups could log in using their national ID card number or Alien Resident Certificate number, as well as their NHI card number.
Photo courtesy of the Central Epidemic Command Center
After logging in, they would be asked to provide a cellphone number that can receive text messages, the “administrative district” that they wish to get vaccinated in and “the brand of COVID-19 vaccine” they hope to receive, she said, adding that users could then amend the three items or cancel their registration.
The center is to analyze the registration data weekly at 5pm on Wednesdays, while considering the number of doses of vaccine available, and decide how many people in the priority groups, in a descending order of age, would be eligible to book a vaccination appointment for the next week, Tang said.
The registration data would give local governments a grasp of eligible vaccine recipients’ intentions, and to prepare the number of vaccine doses and vaccination locations in advance, she said.
People who receive a text message informing them that they are eligible for vaccination in the next week can use 1922.gov.tw or the NHI app between Thursday and Sunday to book a vaccination appointment for the following week, she added.
They can also make an appointment with their NHI card at convenience stores, pharmacies or public health centers that worked with the government’s mask rationing system, Tang said.
“We hope vaccine recipients will arrive at the vaccination centers in the hour of their appointment, to avoid crowds gathering,” Tang said, adding that while most vaccination centers would allow people who arrived late to get vaccinated the same day, those who miss their appointment would have to book again the following week.
A trial was launched on the islands of Kinmen, Penghu and Matsu from 10am yesterday, allowing residents of the ninth and 10th priority groups to register their willingness to be vaccinated until 5pm today, with those eligible able to book an appointment between 10am tomorrow and 5pm Friday, Tang said.
People in the ninth and 10th priority groups elsewhere in Taiwan are encouraged to start registering their willingness to be vaccinated from Tuesday next week, she said.
Meanwhile, the government yesterday expressed its gratitude to Tokyo after Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs Toshimitsu Motegi said that Japan today would make a second vaccine donation to Taiwan of 1.13 million AstraZeneca shots.
Japan previously donated 1.24 million shots of the AstraZeneca vaccine to Taiwan on June 4.
Additional reporting by CNA
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