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.
DEFENDING DEMOCRACY: Taiwan shares the same values as those that fought in WWII, and nations must unite to halt the expansion of a new authoritarian bloc, Lai said The government yesterday held a commemoration ceremony for Victory in Europe (V-E) Day, joining the rest of the world for the first time to mark the anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe. Taiwan honoring V-E Day signifies “our growing connections with the international community,” President William Lai (賴清德) said at a reception in Taipei on the 80th anniversary of V-E Day. One of the major lessons of World War II is that “authoritarianism and aggression lead only to slaughter, tragedy and greater inequality,” Lai said. Even more importantly, the war also taught people that “those who cherish peace cannot
STEADFAST FRIEND: The bills encourage increased Taiwan-US engagement and address China’s distortion of UN Resolution 2758 to isolate Taiwan internationally The Presidential Office yesterday thanked the US House of Representatives for unanimously passing two Taiwan-related bills highlighting its solid support for Taiwan’s democracy and global participation, and for deepening bilateral relations. One of the bills, the Taiwan Assurance Implementation Act, requires the US Department of State to periodically review its guidelines for engagement with Taiwan, and report to the US Congress on the guidelines and plans to lift self-imposed limitations on US-Taiwan engagement. The other bill is the Taiwan International Solidarity Act, which clarifies that UN Resolution 2758 does not address the issue of the representation of Taiwan or its people in
Taiwanese Olympic badminton men’s doubles gold medalist Wang Chi-lin (王齊麟) and his new partner, Chiu Hsiang-chieh (邱相榤), clinched the men’s doubles title at the Yonex Taipei Open yesterday, becoming the second Taiwanese team to win a title in the tournament. Ranked 19th in the world, the Taiwanese duo defeated Kang Min-hyuk and Ki Dong-ju of South Korea 21-18, 21-15 in a pulsating 43-minute final to clinch their first doubles title after teaming up last year. Wang, the men’s doubles gold medalist at the 2020 and 2024 Olympics, partnered with Chiu in August last year after the retirement of his teammate Lee Yang
The Philippines yesterday criticized a “high-risk” maneuver by a Chinese vessel near the disputed Scarborough Shoal (Huangyan Island, 黃岩島) in a rare incident involving warships from the two navies. The Scarborough Shoal — a triangular chain of reefs and rocks in the contested South China Sea — has been a flash point between the countries since China seized it from the Philippines in 2012. Taiwan also claims the shoal. Monday’s encounter took place approximately 11.8 nautical miles (22km) southeast” of the Scarborough Shoal, the Philippine military said, during ongoing US-Philippine military exercises that Beijing has criticized as destabilizing. “The Chinese frigate BN 554 was
RSS