• Military
• WMD
• Intelligence

• Security Menu                     

• Systems
• Industry
• Operations
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• Space

Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine eligibility expanded for latest round

ROC Central News Agency

10/26/2021 05:39 PM

Taipei, Oct. 26 (CNA) The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) on Tuesday expanded eligibility for the latest round of COVID-19 vaccinations, allowing more people to get their first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine and their second dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine.

The new group eligible to receive their first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine are those aged 30 and above who registered their willingness to get the vaccine on the 1922 platform before noon on Tuesday.

Those individuals will be able to make an appointment from 4 p.m. Tuesday to noon on Wednesday, with the shots scheduled for the latest round of vaccinations from Oct. 28 to Nov. 3, the CECC said.

Previously, eligibility to receive the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine during this round was limited to people aged 23 and above who registered their willingness prior to Oct. 13. Around 65 percent of the 930,000 people in this group had made appointments as of 1 p.m. Tuesday, according to the CECC.

Meanwhile, the new group eligible for their second AstraZeneca jab are individuals aged 41 to 44 who received their first shot on or before Aug. 6. They can make an appointment from 6 p.m. Tuesday to Wednesday noon.

The second-dose AstraZeneca recipients in this round were previously limited to people who received their first shot of the same brand on or before July 30, as well as individuals aged 45 and above who got their first shot on or before Aug. 6.

Of the 755,000 people in this category, 54 percent have made appointments, the CECC said.

 

Also in this round of vaccinations, those able to receive the Moderna vaccine are people who got their first shot of the same brand on or before July 16. Around 46 percent of the 557,000 eligible have made appointments so far.

Appointments for this vaccination round close at noon on Wednesday.

In Taiwan, anyone interested in getting vaccinated against COVID-19 with the Moderna, Pfizer-BioNTech, and AstraZeneca brands must first register their information and vaccine preferences on the government's 1922 platform.

An official appointment to get a vaccine shot can be made on the same platform once an individual becomes eligible for any of the vaccines they chose.

Those interested in getting the locally developed Medigen vaccine can make direct appointments with hospitals and clinics instead of going through the platform, as the supply of the vaccine is more stable.

On Tuesday, the CECC said that the registration function on the platform will be temporarily suspended until a new round of vaccinations begins.

Updates on the platform are necessary to accommodate the new mix-and-match approach that will be available in the new round, the CECC said.

CECC spokesperson Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥) previously said that people who received an AstraZeneca jab will be able to opt for a Pfizer-BioNTech shot as their second dose in the new round.

Currently, the mix-and-match approach is only an option for medical workers and hospital employees, who can choose to get AstraZeneca as their first shot and Moderna as their second.

To date, 16.1 million people, or 68.7 percent of Taiwan's 23.43 million population, have received at least one COVID-19 dose, while 28.5 percent, or 6.6 million people, have received the two doses needed to be fully vaccinated.

(By Chiang Yi-ching)

Enditem/AW