Several local governments in Taiwan announced on Saturday the setting up of vaccination sites in the coming days to enable more people to get a COVID-19 vaccine shot, amid the growing number of locally transmitted cases.
New Taipei Mayor Hou Yu-ih (???) urged people to get their second dose and booster shot of COVID-19 vaccine as soon as possible, noting that there were 1.28 million residents in the city eligible for a third dose after the interval between second and third doses was shortened to 12 weeks from five months a day earlier by the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC).
In addition to hospitals, clinics, and the city’s health centers, New Taipei will accept online bookings for a Moderna dose between 9 a.m. on Jan. 11 and 12 p.m. on Jan. 12, which will be offered at locations in the city’s Sanchong, Yonghe, Yingge, and Xizhi districts on Jan. 13-15, the city government said.
Walk-in vaccination sites offering Moderna doses will be set up at Mitsui Outlet Park in Linkou District between 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. from Jan. 14-16, and Honhui Plaza in Xinzhuang District between 1 p.m. and 6 p.m. from Jan. 14-15, according to the city government.
Taipei City’s vaccination website was temporarily swamped by heavy traffic when it was opened to accept new vaccination appointments on Saturday because of the CECC’s third-dose interval policy change Friday.
The website was launched on Jan. 3 and is intended to allow people to make appointments on the Monday and Tuesday of every week to get vaccinations in the following week.
The city is also holding a walk-in site offering Moderna doses at Taipei Main Station between 1 p.m. and 8 p.m. until Jan. 16.
Meanwhile, the Kaohsiung City Department of Health said it will set up a vaccination site at the Dadong Arts Center just to offer the Moderna vaccine as a booster dose from Sunday to Jan. 14, which people can make an appointment to get through a dedicated website.
The Hualien County Health Bureau, which is already holding several walk-in services across the eastern county until Jan. 15, said Saturday that it is planning new vaccination sites after a jump in appointments made with the county’s 47 hospitals and clinics for a COVID-19 vaccine dose before the Lunar New Year holiday that begins in late January.
The Taichung City Health Bureau is also offering walk-in services this weekend, with three locations to offer the Pfizer-BioNTech doses — at Carrefour’s Xi Tun and Chung Ching branches in Xitun District between 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. and at ASEAN Square near the Taichung railway station between 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. on Sunday.
Because of calls from local clinics, Health and Welfare Minister Chen Shih-chung (???) said the CECC was considering reopening the 1922 online vaccination website, which was suspended in late December.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel