People who have been vaccinated against COVID-19 in other countries can register with the National Immunization Information System (NIIS) in Taiwan, but a vaccination document will not be issued, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said at its daily news briefing yesterday.
Those who have been inoculated with any of the six WHO-approved COVID-19 vaccines can go to their local health department to register their overseas vaccination record with the NIIS after they return to Taiwan, but they will not receive a vaccination document, known locally as a “yellow card,” said Deputy Minister of the Interior Chen Tsung-yen (陳宗彥), who is also the deputy head of the CECC.
Those who have not been fully vaccinated can receive their second dose in Taiwan, he said.
Photo: Ting Wei-chieh, Taipei Times
The WHO-approved vaccines are: AstraZeneca, Moderna, Pfizer-BioNTech, Janssen, Sinopharm and Sinovac.
The atmosphere at the briefing turned a little testy when a reporter asked about the case of a Taiwanese who exchanged their “vaccination record from the mainland” for a yellow card after returning to Taiwan.
“Did you mean the person returned from ‘China?’” Chen asked. “Because when you said the mainland, I did not know what country you were referring to.”
Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥), who is the CECC’s spokesman, said that the local health department had recalled the yellow card from the person.
The CECC also reported one local COVID-19 infection and five imported cases.
The local case is a man in his 60s from New Taipei City who developed a fever on Saturday and tested positive for COVID-19 when he sought treatment on Sunday, Chen said.
The man’s cycle threshold value from his first polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test was 33.1, and his antibody test came back positive with both IgG and IgM antibodies, but he later tested negative in two more PCR tests, Chen said.
CDC Deputy Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞), deputy chief of the CECC’s medical response division, said the man’s fever was most likely caused by a kidney inflammation, and his test results indicate the likelihood of a previously undiagnosed COVID-19 infection.
Chen said the five imported cases are from Malaysia, the Philippines, the United Arab Emirates and the US.
The CECC was also asked about complaints that many Taipei residents eligible for the 12th round of vaccination could not book an appointment in the city on Monday, when booking for the first phase of the 12th round began.
Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) on Monday said that the city could only provide slots for 210,000 people to get vaccinated in the first phase, and that the CECC allowing 410,000 residents to qualify for vaccination caused problems.
In response, Chen yesterday presented a chart showing the vaccination slots opened by the six special municipalities for the AstraZeneca and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines, as well as the number of eligible recipients in the six cities.
He said the CECC informs local governments beforehand how many residents are eligible in the next round of vaccination, so that they can prepare before bookings for appointments begin.
Based on past experience, about 80 percent of eligible recipients actually booked an appointment, so the center suggested that local governments arrange vaccination slots for at least 80 percent of eligible recipients, he said.
Chuang said the center had quickly coordinated with government agencies and healthcare facilities to provide an additional 45,280 vaccination appointment slots for people to book an appointment for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine at five temporary vaccination stations.
The five stations are: the first floor of the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the first floor of the Ministry of Transportation and Communications, Huashan Arts District’s (華山藝文特區) West Building 2, the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall’s (中正紀念堂) Exhibition Hall 1 and the Taiwan Contemporary Cultural Lab (空總臺灣當代文化實驗場) in Taipei, CECC information showed.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said it expected to issue a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-Wong tomorrow, which it said would possibly make landfall near central Taiwan. As of 2am yesterday, Fung-Wong was about 1,760km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving west-northwest at 26kph. It is forecast to reach Luzon in the northern Philippines by tomorrow, the CWA said. After entering the South China Sea, Typhoon Fung-Wong is likely to turn northward toward Taiwan, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張峻堯) said, adding that it would likely make landfall near central Taiwan. The CWA expects to issue a land
Taiwan’s exports soared to an all-time high of US$61.8 billion last month, surging 49.7 percent from a year earlier, as the global frenzy for artificial intelligence (AI) applications and new consumer electronics powered shipments of high-tech goods, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. It was the first time exports had exceeded the US$60 billion mark, fueled by the global boom in AI development that has significantly boosted Taiwanese companies across the international supply chain, Department of Statistics Director-General Beatrice Tsai (蔡美娜) told a media briefing. “There is a consensus among major AI players that the upcycle is still in its early stage,”
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
PREPARATION: Ferry lines and flights were canceled ahead of only the second storm to hit the nation in November, while many areas canceled classes and work Authorities yesterday evacuated more than 3,000 people ahead of approaching Tropical Storm Fung-wong, which is expected to make landfall between Kaohsiung and Pingtung County this evening. Fung-wong was yesterday morning downgraded from a typhoon to a tropical storm as it approached the nation’s southwest coast, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, as it issued a land alert for the storm. The alert applies to residents in Tainan, Kaohsiung, Pingtung and Taitung counties, and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春). As of press time last night, Taichung, Tainan, Kaohsiung, and Yilan, Miaoli, Changhua, Yunlin, Pingtung and Penghu counties, as well as Chiayi city and county had
RSS