The Taipei City Department of Health yesterday said it would offer an additional NT$100 (US$3.24) bonus for administering any dose of publicly funded routine immunization vaccines to children aged six or younger whose household registration is in Taipei.
The bonus comes as the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) seeks to increase the fee amid pressure from clinics and doctors.
The CDC in June said that medical professionals have been calling for the vaccination treatment fee to be increased, after it fell back to NT$100 following the end of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Photo: Tsai Shu-yuan, Taipei Times
The centers said that the then-Central Epidemic Command Center offered an additional NT$100 bonus to the base NT$100 fee to encourage clinics to offer vaccinations during the pandemic, but the fee returned to its original level after the command center disbanded.
CDC Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞) last month said the Cabinet agreed to increase the vaccination budget, which, if passed by the legislature, would raise the vaccine administration fee to NT$200 for young children and NT$150 for everyone else.
The Taipei health department said its publicly funded routine immunization program includes nine types of vaccines, consisting of 19 doses, including 17 doses received up to age three.
The coverage rate of the publicly funded routine immunization for young children in Taipei reached 97.8 percent last year, but the department continues to encourage healthcare facilities to administer the vaccines, she said.
The department has allocated NT$19.6 million budget for the policy, which could take effect shortly after it is passed by the city council, she added.
Meanwhile, the department urged Taipei’s elderly residents to get vaccinated, as they are at higher risk of developing severe complications, possibly leading to death, from Streptococcus pneumoniae infection during autumn and winter.
Pneumonia steadily ranks third among the 10 leading causes of death among Taipei residents, it said, adding that 1,815 city residents died of pneumonia last year, and the standardized mortality rate has been rising annually.
S pneumoniae is a leading cause of pneumonia, and vaccination has been proven an effective method to reduce the risk of infection, as well as the risk of developing meningitis, sepsis or other severe complications, or death from infection, it added.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday voiced dissatisfaction with the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans- Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), whose latest meeting, concluded earlier the same day, appeared not to address the country’s application. In a statement, MOFA said the CPTPP commission had "once again failed to fairly process Taiwan’s application," attributing the inaction to the bloc’s "succumbing to political pressure," without elaborating. Taiwan submitted its CPTPP application under the name "Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu" on Sept. 22, 2021 -- less than a week after China
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,
A home-style restaurant opened by a Taiwanese woman in Quezon City in Metro Manila has been featured in the first-ever Michelin Guide honoring exceptional restaurants in the Philippines. The restaurant, Fong Wei Wu (豐味屋), was one of 74 eateries to receive a “Michelin Selected” honor in the guide, while one restaurant received two Michelin stars, eight received one star and 25 were awarded a “Bib Gourmand.” The guide, which was limited to restaurants in Metro Manila and Cebu, was published on Oct. 30. In an interview, Feng Wei Wu’s owner and chef, Linda, said that as a restaurateur in her 60s, receiving an
Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) on Monday announced light shows and themed traffic lights to welcome fans of South Korean pop group Twice to the port city. The group is to play Kaohsiung on Saturday as part of its “This Is For” world tour. It would be the group’s first performance in Taiwan since its debut 10 years ago. The all-female group consists of five South Koreans, three Japanese and Tainan’s Chou Tzu-yu (周子瑜), the first Taiwan-born and raised member of a South Korean girl group. To promote the group’s arrival, the city has been holding a series of events, including a pop-up
RSS