The Taipei City Government has designated three different types of facilities for the administration of COVID-19 jabs in the next round of vaccinations, which involves three brands, Taipei Deputy Mayor Tsai Ping-kun (蔡炳坤) said yesterday.
In a bid to make the process more efficient, second shots of the Moderna vaccine are to be administered only at clinics, first shots of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine are to be administered at hospitals and second shots of the AstraZeneca vaccine are to be administered at the vaccination center at Taipei Expo Park from Friday next week to Nov. 3, Tsai said.
The decision to make the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine available only at hospitals is based on the relatively complicated preparation process for that brand, he said following an inspection of the Expo Dome vaccination center.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
Daily operations at the Expo Dome vaccination center are to be extended by three hours from 6pm to 9pm from Friday next week to accommodate working who are eligible to receive their second AstraZeneca shot, but the number of jabs administered per hour is to be reduced, he added.
The city government decided to structure the rollout in such a way to not overload the capital’s medical facilities, Tsai said.
Separately yesterday, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said passengers arriving in Taiwan from Israel and Indonesia from tomorrow would no longer be required to quarantine at a government facility and can instead choose to stay at a quarantine hotel.
That is because the two nations from tomorrow would no longer be listed as “key high-risk countries,” as their number of COVID-19 infections have continued to fall, said Centers for Disease Control Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥), who is also the CECC spokesman.
The nations that would remain on the “key high-risk countries” list are India, the UK and Myanmar.
The revised classification allows travelers from both nations more choice in where they carry out their mandatory 14-day quarantine, although they would be required to pay for their accommodation, even if they choose to stay at a government facility.
Travelers who have visited or transited through a “key high-risk country” in the 14 days before entering Taiwan have to quarantine at a government facility, where they can stay for free.
Regardless of where they are arriving from, all travelers must undergo three COVID-19 tests: one polymerase chain reaction test at the beginning and end of the quarantine period, and a COVID-19 antigen rapid test during the self-health management period after their mandatory 14-day quarantine, Chuang said.
The CECC also reported four new imported cases of COVID-19, but no new domestic infections or deaths.
The four new imported cases are an Indonesian woman, an American man, a Filipina and a Mongolian woman, who arrived in Taiwan from their respective nations between Oct. 1 and Wednesday, the CECC said.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said it is expected to issue a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong this afternoon and a land warning tomorrow. As of 1pm, the storm was about 1,070km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, and was moving west-northwest at 28 to 32kph, according to CWA data. The storm had a radius of 250km, with maximum sustained winds of 173kph and gusts reaching 209kph, the CWA added. The storm is forecast to pass near Luzon in the Philippines before entering the South China Sea and potentially turning northward toward Taiwan, the CWA said. CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張峻堯) said
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The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday issued a sea alert for Typhoon Fung-wong (鳳凰) as it threatened vessels operating in waters off the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島), the Bashi Channel and south of the Taiwan Strait. A land alert is expected to be announced some time between late last night and early this morning, the CWA said. As of press time last night, Taoyuan, as well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties had declared today a typhoon day, canceling work and classes. Except for a few select districts in Taipei and New Taipei City, all other areas and city
VIOLATION OF NORMS: China’s CCTV broadcast claimed that Beijing could use Interpol to issue arrest warrants, which the MAC slammed as an affront to order The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday condemned the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) for attempts to intimidate Taiwanese through “transnational repression.” The council issued the remarks after state broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV) yesterday during a news broadcast aired a video targeting Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Puma Shen (沈伯洋), threatening him with “cross-border repression” and saying: “Stop now, or you will be next,” in what Taipei officials said was an attempt to intimidate not only Shen, but also the broader Taiwanese public. The MAC in a statement condemned the threat, accusing Beijing of trying to instill fear and self-censorship among Taiwanese and
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