Taipei yesterday started offering a third dose of COVID-19 vaccines to people in the top three priority groups for vaccination through arranged sessions, as well as to other eligible recipients at 18 hospitals in the city, Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) said yesterday.
The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) on Thursday last week said that, in response to the global threat of the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2, people who have been fully vaccinated for more than five months are eligible to receive an additional booster shot, effective immediately.
The center added that most of those who have been fully vaccinated for five months are people in the top three priority groups for vaccination, including healthcare workers, non-healthcare workers at healthcare facilities, government disease prevention personnel and frontline workers who are at a higher risk of infection.
Photo: CNA
Ko said that with the Omicron variant spreading, South Korea, which has a full vaccination coverage of more than 80 percent, still reported more than 4,000 new infections yesterday, so Taiwan needs to be vigilant, as the nation’s full vaccination rate is only about 60 percent.
As of Saturday, the first-dose vaccination rate among Taipei residents was 74.8 percent and the full vaccination rate was 60.2 percent, he said.
Some people have yet to be vaccinated, he said, urging them to get vaccinated while the local COVID-19 situation is relatively safe.
People who have not received their second dose have three options to get vaccinated: booking an appointment through the national online vaccination booking system, directly booking an appointment with one of the 15 designated healthcare facilities in the city, or registering on-site at one of the 14 designated hospitals in the city, he said.
The city’s healthcare facilities are responsible for ensuring that their employees receive a booster shot, he added.
As for people in the second and third priority groups, the Taipei Department of Health would ask the establishments to submit a list of eligible recipients and arrange special sessions for them to receive a booster shot, Ko said.
People who are not able to make it to the arranged sessions can get their jab afterward at one designated hospital per administration district, he added.
Taipei Deputy Mayor Tsai Ping-kun (蔡炳坤) said people who are planning to travel abroad and other eligible recipients for the booster shot can also book an appointment with one of 18 designated hospitals in the city.
With a batch of Moderna vaccines due to expire on Thursday, from yesterday to Thursday, the city government is offering NT$100 gift certificates to encourage people to get their shot — be it their first, second or third dose, Ko said.
There are still about 375,000 Taipei residents who have yet to be vaccinated, Tsai said, urging them to do so as soon as possible.
As for the CECC’s mandatory full vaccination order for workers at 24 types of establishments supervised by the education, economics, labor, and health and welfare ministries, Ko said the city government would strictly enforce the order, and workers who are unwilling to get vaccinated must undergo a COVID-19 test every week.
Taiwan is projected to lose a working-age population of about 6.67 million people in two waves of retirement in the coming years, as the nation confronts accelerating demographic decline and a shortage of younger workers to take their place, the Ministry of the Interior said. Taiwan experienced its largest baby boom between 1958 and 1966, when the population grew by 3.78 million, followed by a second surge of 2.89 million between 1976 and 1982, ministry data showed. In 2023, the first of those baby boom generations — those born in the late 1950s and early 1960s — began to enter retirement, triggering
One of two tropical depressions that formed off Taiwan yesterday morning could turn into a moderate typhoon by the weekend, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Tropical Depression No. 21 formed at 8am about 1,850km off the southeast coast, CWA forecaster Lee Meng-hsuan (李孟軒) said. The weather system is expected to move northwest as it builds momentum, possibly intensifying this weekend into a typhoon, which would be called Mitag, Lee said. The radius of the storm is expected to reach almost 200km, she said. It is forecast to approach the southeast of Taiwan on Monday next week and pass through the Bashi Channel
NO CHANGE: The TRA makes clear that the US does not consider the status of Taiwan to have been determined by WWII-era documents, a former AIT deputy director said The American Institute in Taiwan’s (AIT) comments that World War-II era documents do not determine Taiwan’s political status accurately conveyed the US’ stance, the US Department of State said. An AIT spokesperson on Saturday said that a Chinese official mischaracterized World War II-era documents as stating that Taiwan was ceded to the China. The remarks from the US’ de facto embassy in Taiwan drew criticism from the Ma Ying-jeou Foundation, whose director said the comments put Taiwan in danger. The Chinese-language United Daily News yesterday reported that a US State Department spokesperson confirmed the AIT’s position. They added that the US would continue to
The number of Chinese spouses applying for dependent residency as well as long-term residency in Taiwan has decreased, the Mainland Affairs Council said yesterday, adding that the reduction of Chinese spouses staying or living in Taiwan is only one facet reflecting the general decrease in the number of people willing to get married in Taiwan. The number of Chinese spouses applying for dependent residency last year was 7,123, down by 2,931, or 29.15 percent, from the previous year. The same census showed that the number of Chinese spouses applying for long-term residency and receiving approval last year stood at 2,973, down 1,520,
RSS