The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday expanded registration for the national online COVID-19 vaccination booking system to include people aged 18 to 49.
From 9am yesterday, the booking system, 1922.gov.tw, started allowing people born in or before 2003 to register for vaccination, said Deputy Minister of the Interior Chen Tsung-yen (陳宗彥), the CECC deputy head.
However, due to heavy online traffic after the announcement, the server crashed yesterday morning, before stabilizing at about midday.
Photo: CNA
The eligibility was expanded from people in the ninth priority group — those aged 18 to 64 who have a high-risk disease, a rare disease or catastrophic illness — and the 10th priority group of people aged 50 to 64 when the system was launched last week.
The deadline for people in those two priority groups to register for inoculation was 5pm on Monday.
Minister Without Portfolio Audrey Tang (唐鳳), who designed the system, said that approximately 1.1 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine are available, and about 1.1 million people in the ninth and 10th priority groups had selected it as their choice of vaccine by the deadline.
Photo courtesy of the CECC
All of those registered users received a text message yesterday morning informing them to book a vaccination appointment, which is to take place between Friday and Thursday next week, she said.
As of 1pm yesterday, more than 50,000 people had booked an appointment.
The deadline for registration for the next round of vaccination — again the AstraZeneca vaccine only — is at 5pm tomorrow, and all people aged 18 or older are eligible to register, Tang said.
As of 1pm yesterday, more than 1.67 million people aged 18 to 49 had registered for vaccination, she said.
If the number of people who selected the AstraZeneca vaccine exceeds the total number of doses available for the next round, eligible recipients would receive a text message for booking an appointment based on their age in descending order, she said.
The CECC said that as of 5pm yesterday, a total of 4,852,553 people had registered for the next round of vaccination.
It added that 63,310 people (1.3 percent) chose only the AstraZeneca vaccine, while 3,098,106 people (63.84 percent) chose only the Moderna vaccine, and 1,691,137 people (34.85 percent) selected both vaccines.
Meanwhile, Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs Toshimitsu Motegi yesterday said Tokyo would donate a third batch of vaccines — 1 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine — to Taiwan tomorrow.
Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center, yesterday confirmed that the vaccines are expected to arrive in Taiwan tomorrow, thanking the Japanese government for donating three batches of vaccines.
CECC data showed that 3,821,539 doses of vaccine had been administered as of 10am yesterday, with 15.93 percent of the population having received at least one dose.
GLOBAL ISSUE: If China annexes Taiwan, ‘it will not stop its expansion there, as it only becomes stronger and has more force to expand further,’ the president said China’s military and diplomatic expansion is not a sole issue for Taiwan, but one that risks world peace, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that Taiwan would stand with the alliance of democratic countries to preserve peace through deterrence. Lai made the remark in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times). “China is strategically pushing forward to change the international order,” Lai said, adding that China established the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank, launched the Belt and Road Initiative, and pushed for yuan internationalization, because it wants to replace the democratic rules-based international
ECONOMIC BOOST: Should the more than 23 million people eligible for the NT$10,000 handouts spend them the same way as in 2023, GDP could rise 0.5 percent, an official said Universal cash handouts of NT$10,000 (US$330) are to be disbursed late next month at the earliest — including to permanent residents and foreign residents married to Taiwanese — pending legislative approval, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. The Executive Yuan yesterday approved the Special Act for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience in Response to International Circumstances (因應國際情勢強化經濟社會及民生國安韌性特別條例). The NT$550 billion special budget includes NT$236 billion for the cash handouts, plus an additional NT$20 billion set aside as reserve funds, expected to be used to support industries. Handouts might begin one month after the bill is promulgated and would be completed within
The National Development Council (NDC) yesterday unveiled details of new regulations that ease restrictions on foreigners working or living in Taiwan, as part of a bid to attract skilled workers from abroad. The regulations, which could go into effect in the first quarter of next year, stem from amendments to the Act for the Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals (外國專業人才延攬及僱用法) passed by lawmakers on Aug. 29. Students categorized as “overseas compatriots” would be allowed to stay and work in Taiwan in the two years after their graduation without obtaining additional permits, doing away with the evaluation process that is currently required,
RELEASED: Ko emerged from a courthouse before about 700 supporters, describing his year in custody as a period of ‘suffering’ and vowed to ‘not surrender’ Former Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) was released on NT$70 million (US$2.29 million) bail yesterday, bringing an end to his year-long incommunicado detention as he awaits trial on corruption charges. Under the conditions set by the Taipei District Court on Friday, Ko must remain at a registered address, wear a GPS-enabled ankle monitor and is prohibited from leaving the country. He is also barred from contacting codefendants or witnesses. After Ko’s wife, Peggy Chen (陳佩琪), posted bail, Ko was transported from the Taipei Detention Center to the Taipei District Court at 12:20pm, where he was fitted with the tracking
RSS