The nation’s main pharmacists’ association on Tuesday said that it was gearing up to expand its home delivery service, as the government prepares to implement home quarantine protocols for people with mild or no COVID-19 symptoms, amid a rise in domestic cases.
The Federation of Taiwan Pharmacists Associations (FTPA), which has about 25 member groups nationwide, said that it was aiming to get at least 2,000 pharmacies involved in the program to deliver medication to people at home.
The goal is to meet demand for such a service when the central government launches its home quarantine protocols for COVID-19 cases with mild or no symptoms, FTPA president Huang Chin-shun (黃金舜) told a news conference in Taipei.
Photo: CNA
While the FTPA has experience delivering medication to targeted patients, it has never offered a large-scale delivery service, he said.
Citing data from the National Health Insurance Administration, Huang said that as of the end of February there were about 6,900 National Health Insurance-contracted pharmacies nationwide.
So far, 52 of them have responded positively to the FTPA’s proposal to offer an expanded home delivery service, he said.
Under the Central Epidemic Command Center’s (CECC) home quarantine plan, only symptomatic medication and drugs for the treatment of chronic illnesses would be available for home delivery, through a dedicated mobile app that would be rolled out by the central government.
Drugs used for the treatment of COVID-19 would not be included, the CECC has said.
Participating pharmacies would be included on the central government’s mobile app, which could be used by COVID-19 cases in quarantine to choose which pharmacy to order their medication from, after they receive a doctor’s prescription, Huang said.
The pharmacy option would be available via a QR code that would be generated for COVID-19 cases after every remote medical consultation, which would ensure that the prescription could not be used more than once, he said.
Once a pharmacy receives a prescription, the medication would be delivered within 24 hours, Huang said.
The QR code assigned to each case would safeguard their personal information, FTPA vice secretary-general Chiu Chien-chiang (邱建強) told the news conference.
That would be a more secure method than the Line messaging app currently being used in a trial run for the home quarantine program by seven New Taipei City hospitals to send prescription medicines to pharmacies, which then deliver the drugs, the FTPA said.
Once the home quarantine measure is officially implemented nationwide, all cities and counties would be required to use the dedicated central government app to have medication delivered at home, Huang said.
On Monday, as the CECC prepared to finalize its home quarantine guidelines later in the week, it met with representatives from medical associations and with health officials from New Taipei City, Taoyuan and Kaohsiung to discuss the measure.
At the meeting, Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the CECC, said that a nationwide 24-hour mobile service platform would have to be set up to enable people with COVID-19 to easily reach doctors and other health personnel from their home for consultations, assistance and advice.
LOW RISK: Most nations do not extradite people accused of political crimes, and the UN says extradition can only happen if the act is a crime in both countries, an official said China yesterday issued wanted notices for two Taiwanese influencers, accusing them of committing “separatist acts” by criticizing Beijing, amid broadening concerns over China’s state-directed transnational repression. The Quanzhou Public Security Bureau in a notice posted online said police are offering a reward of up to 25,000 yuan (US$3,523) for information that could contribute to the investigation or apprehension of pro-Taiwanese independence YouTuber Wen Tzu-yu (溫子渝),who is known as Pa Chiung (八炯) online, and rapper Chen Po-yuan (陳柏源). Wen and Chen are suspected of spreading content that supported secession from China, slandered Chinese policies that benefit Taiwanese and discrimination against Chinese spouses of
PROMOTION: Travelers who want a free stopover must book their flights with designated travel agents, such as Lion Travel, Holiday Tours, Cola Tour and Life Tours Air Canada yesterday said it is offering Taiwanese travelers who are headed to North America free stopovers if they transit though airports in Japan and South Korea. The promotion was launched in response to a potential rise in demand for flights to North America in June and July next year, when the US, Canada and Mexico are scheduled to jointly host the FIFA World Cup, Air Canada said. Air Canada offers services to 13 of the 16 host cities of the tournament’s soccer games, including Toronto and Vancouver; Mexico City, Guadalajara and Monterrey in Mexico; Atlanta, Georgia; Boston; Dallas; Houston;
The US approved the possible sale to Taiwan of fighter jet spare and repair parts for US$330 million, the Pentagon said late yesterday, marking the first such potential transaction since US President Donald Trump took office in January. "The proposed sale will improve the recipient's capability to meet current and future threats by maintaining the operational readiness of the recipient's fleet of F-16, C-130," and other aircraft, the Pentagon said in a statement. Trump previously said that Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) has told him he would not invade Taiwan while the Republican leader is in office. The announcement of the possible arms
ALIGNED THINKING: Taiwan and Japan have a mutual interest in trade, culture and engineering, and can work together for stability, Cho Jung-tai said Taiwan and Japan are two like-minded countries willing to work together to form a “safety barrier” in the Indo-Pacific region, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) yesterday said at the opening ceremony of the 35th Taiwan-Japan Modern Engineering and Technology Symposium in Taipei. Taiwan and Japan are close geographically and closer emotionally, he added. Citing the overflowing of a barrier lake in the Mataian River (馬太鞍溪) in September, Cho said the submersible water level sensors given by Japan during the disaster helped Taiwan monitor the lake’s water levels more accurately. Japan also provided a lot of vaccines early in the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic,
RSS