The nation’s first-dose COVID-19 vaccination rate has exceeded 70 percent, with two-dose full vaccinations surpassing 30 percent, Minister of Health and Welfare Minister Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) said yesterday.
More than 16.4 million people, or 70.01 percent of Taiwan’s population of 23.43 million, have received at least one vaccine dose, and 30.87 percent, or 7.23 million people, have received two.
Chen said that 78.16 percent of people aged 65 or above had received at least one shot, and 67.57 percent had been fully vaccinated.
Photo: Tu Chien-jung, Taipei Times
The two-dose vaccination rate of the flight crew of Taiwanese airlines has reached 99 percent, with 90 percent of airport personnel having been fully vaccinated, said Chen, who also heads the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC).
Taiwan yesterday received 902,100 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, the ninth shipment Taiwan has received of this brand.
It is part of 15 million doses ordered by the Hon Hai Precision Industry Co-affiliated Yong Lin Foundation, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co, and the Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Foundation, which are to be donated to the government for distribution.
Another shipment of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is scheduled to arrive today, Chen said.
With the latest delivery, Taiwan has now received more than 6.8 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine and over 25.4 million COVID-19 vaccine doses from overseas, CECC data showed.
Taiwan yesterday reported six new COVID-19 cases, all contracted overseas, and zero deaths from the disease, the CECC said.
The six imported cases arrived in Taiwan from Japan, the US, the UK, Kyrgyzstan and Mongolia. They all tested positive during quarantine, the CECC said.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong effective from 5:30pm, while local governments canceled school and work for tomorrow. A land warning is expected to be issued tomorrow morning before it is expected to make landfall on Wednesday, the agency said. Taoyuan, and well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties canceled work and school for tomorrow, as well as mountainous district of Taipei and New Taipei City. For updated information on closures, please visit the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Web site. As of 5pm today, Fung-wong was about 490km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost point.
Almost a quarter of volunteer soldiers who signed up from 2021 to last year have sought early discharge, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said in a report. The report said that 12,884 of 52,674 people who volunteered in the period had sought an early exit from the military, returning NT$895.96 million (US$28.86 million) to the government. In 2021, there was a 105.34 percent rise in the volunteer recruitment rate, but the number has steadily declined since then, missing recruitment targets, the Chinese-language United Daily News said, citing the report. In 2021, only 521 volunteers dropped out of the military, the report said, citing
A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck Kaohsiung at 1pm today, the Central Weather Administration said. The epicenter was in Jiasian District (甲仙), 72.1km north-northeast of Kaohsiung City Hall, at a depth of 7.8km, agency data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effects of a temblor, was highest in Kaohsiung and Tainan, where it measured a 4 on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale. It also measured a 3 in parts of Chiayi City, as well as Pingtung, Yunlin and Hualien counties, data showed.
Nearly 5 million people have signed up to receive the government’s NT$10,000 (US$322) universal cash handout since registration opened on Wednesday last week, with deposits expected to begin tomorrow, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. After a staggered sign-up last week — based on the final digit of the applicant’s national ID or Alien Resident Certificate number — online registration is open to all eligible Taiwanese nationals, foreign permanent residents and spouses of Taiwanese nationals. Banks are expected to start issuing deposits from 6pm today, the ministry said. Those who completed registration by yesterday are expected to receive their NT$10,000 tomorrow, National Treasury
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