Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) and Taipei City Councilor Chung Pei-ling (鍾佩玲) on Tuesday clashed over Ko’s proposal to introduce a municipal vaccine and health passport system, with the mayor saying that he would, if necessary, seek to implement the policy without approval from the central government.
The exchange, which took place in a Taipei City Council session, came after Ko has over the past few months urged the introduction of a municipal vaccine passport, despite the idea being opposed by the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC).
Chuang said that business owners and residents in her constituency have expressed concerns over how the system would work.
A city government policy meeting last week did not produce guidelines for or a preview of the policy, she added.
The CECC has on multiple occasions emphasized that vaccine passports are intended for crossing international borders and that domestically imposed restrictions based on such a system might contravene personal liberties and the right to privacy, she said.
Ko should refrain from seeking to obtain Taipei residents’ data from the CECC, based on which the municipal passport system could be set up, she said.
Ko said that the Taipei City Government is seeking to work with the central government on the issue, as it it does not intend to steal the CECC’s spotlight.
Taipei would be ready to roll out several types of vaccine passports and mobile apps to protect its residents’ health during the COVID-19 pandemic as soon as it gets approved by the CECC, Ko said, reiterating that the passports would enable business owners’ to check patrons’ vaccination status.
“However, we do not need the central government’s permission to do any of this; the only thing we need is the permission of end users,” to obtain their data from the National Health Insurance Administration database through local hospitals, he said.
The city government does not expect any technical problems if it unilaterally introduces vaccine passports in the jurisdiction, Ko said.
Until the municipal passport system is in place, community centers would not be allowed to host meals for elderly people without checking their vaccination status, Ko said.
EVA Airways today confirmed the death of a flight attendant on Saturday upon their return to Taiwan and said an internal investigation has been launched, as criticism mounted over a social media post accusing the airline of failing to offer sufficient employee protections. According to the post, the flight attendant complained of feeling sick on board a flight, but was unable to take sick leave or access medical care. The crew member allegedly did not receive assistance from the chief purser, who failed to heed their requests for medical attention or call an ambulance once the flight landed, the post said. As sick
A drunk woman was sexually assaulted inside a crowded concourse of Taipei Railway Station on Thursday last week before a foreign tourist notified police, leading to calls for better education on bystander intervention and review of security infrastructure. The man, surnamed Chiu (邱), was taken into custody on charges of sexual assault, taking advantage of the woman’s condition and public indecency. Police discovered that Chiu was a fugitive with prior convictions for vehicle theft. He has been taken into custody and is to complete his unserved six-month sentence, police said. On Thursday last week, Chiu was seen wearing a white
EVA Airways, one of the leading international carriers in Taiwan, yesterday said that it was investigating reports that a cabin crew manager had ignored the condition of a sick flight attendant, who died on Saturday. The airline made the statement in response to a post circulating on social media that said that the flight attendant on an outbound flight was feeling sick and notified the cabin crew manager. Although the flight attendant grew increasingly ill on the return flight, the manager did not contact Medlink — a system that connects the aircraft to doctors on the ground for treatment advice during medical
The Taichung District Court yesterday confirmed its final ruling that the marriage between teenage heir Lai (賴) and a man surnamed Hsia (夏) was legally invalid, preventing Hsia from inheriting Lai’s NT$500 million (US$16.37 million) estate. The court confirmed that Hsia chose not to appeal the civil judgement after the court handed down its ruling in June, making the decision final. In the June ruling, the court said that Lai, 18, and Hsia, 26, showed “no mutual admiration before the marriage” and that their interactions were “distant and unfamiliar.” The judge concluded that the couple lacked the “true intention of
RSS