Taipei residents who are eligible for the 12th round of COVID-19 vaccinations, but failed to book an appointment in the first phase can still book an appointment in the second phase, Taipei Deputy Mayor Tsai Ping-kun (蔡炳坤) said yesterday.
The 12th round covers people eligible for their first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, and second doses of the AstraZeneca and Moderna vaccines. It consists of two phases, with phase 1 inoculations being administered from tomorrow to Wednesday next week, and phase 2 from Thursday next week to Nov. 3.
Booking for the first phase began on Monday for the BioNTech vaccine, and on Tuesday for the AstraZeneca and Moderna vaccines. However, many Taipei residents complained that they could not find any available slots in Taipei shortly after the booking system opened at 10am on Monday.
Photo: Tsai Shu-yuan, Taipei Times
The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) on Tuesday released a chart showing the vaccination slots offered by the six special municipalities for the AstraZeneca and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines, as well as the number of eligible recipients in the six cities, for the first phase.
The chart showed that the vaccination slots offered by Taipei would only cover 49.2 percent of the city’s eligible recipients of the AstraZeneca vaccine, while other cities would be able to meet between 59.57 percent and 100.46 percent of their eligible recipients’ demand.
As for the BioNTech vaccine, Taipei only offered 39.53 percent of the city’s demand, while other cities offered between 73.99 percent and 88.82 percent.
Photo courtesy of the Taipei City Government
Tsai yesterday said that the chart released by the CECC only showed part of the story, and has hurt the feelings of healthcare workers in Taipei who have worked so hard every day to vaccinate the public.
The CECC informed Taipei that there would be about 410,000 eligible recipients for phase 1, but Taipei can only provide about 273,000 slots during this period, he said.
However, as there would only be about 180,000 eligible recipients in phase 2, Taipei can provide up to about 330,000 slots, he said.
There would be enough slots for all eligible recipients in the two phases, and about 58,000 slots might even be left unfilled after the booking deadline, he added.
Taipei’s eligible recipients who could not book an appointment in phase 1 do not have to worry, as they can still book an appointment when booking starts for phase 2 on Monday next week, he said.
Showing a chart of the numbers of actual vaccination appointment bookings compared with the numbers of eligible recipients in Taipei from previous rounds of COVID-19 vaccinations, which ranged from 61.68 percent to 96.75 percent, Tsai said there has always been a gap between projected and actual demand.
It would be waste of healthcare and human resources if Taipei’s healthecare facilities were to open up so many slots and end up with a low booking rate, he said.
“We do not want to exploit healthcare resources or sacrifice the quality of healthcare services,” Tsai said.
He said Taipei can administer about 40,000 doses per day, but it would be unfair to ask healthcare workers to meet a spike in demand to 410,000 people in phase 1, then drop to about 180,000 people in phase 2.
Asked about the CECC on Monday afternoon providing an additional 45,280 vaccination appointment slots at five temporary vaccination stations in Taipei, Tsai said the city is thankful that the center acknowledged the problem and quickly stepped in to help.
The first two F-16V Bock 70 jets purchased from the US are expected to arrive in Taiwan around Double Ten National Day, which is on Oct. 10, a military source said yesterday. Of the 66 F-16V Block 70 jets purchased from the US, the first completed production in March, the source said, adding that since then three jets have been produced per month. Although there were reports of engine defects, the issue has been resolved, they said. After the jets arrive in Taiwan, they must first pass testing by the air force before they would officially become Taiwan’s property, they said. The air force
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday said it had deployed patrol vessels to expel a China Coast Guard ship and a Chinese fishing boat near Pratas Island (Dongsha Island, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. The China Coast Guard vessel was 28 nautical miles (52km) northeast of Pratas at 6:15am on Thursday, approaching the island’s restricted waters, which extend 24 nautical miles from its shoreline, the CGA’s Dongsha-Nansha Branch said in a statement. The Tainan, a 2,000-tonne cutter, was deployed by the CGA to shadow the Chinese ship, which left the area at 2:39pm on Friday, the statement said. At 6:31pm on Friday,
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy’s (PLAN) third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, would pose a steep challenge to Taiwan’s ability to defend itself against a full-scale invasion, a defense expert said yesterday. Institute of National Defense and Security Research analyst Chieh Chung (揭仲) made the comment hours after the PLAN confirmed the carrier recently passed through the Taiwan Strait to conduct “scientific research tests and training missions” in the South China Sea. China has two carriers in operation — the Liaoning and the Shandong — with the Fujian undergoing sea trials. Although the PLAN needs time to train the Fujian’s air wing and
STRIKE: Some travel agencies in Taiwan said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group tours to the country were proceeding as planned A planned strike by airport personnel in South Korea has not affected group tours to the country from Taiwan, travel agencies said yesterday. They added that they were closely monitoring the situation. Personnel at 15 airports, including Seoul’s Incheon and Gimpo airports, are to go on strike. They announced at a news conference on Tuesday that the strike would begin on Friday next week and continue until the Mid-Autumn Festival next month. Some travel agencies in Taiwan, including Cola Tour, Lion Travel, SET Tour and ezTravel, said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group
RSS