Taipei, Taichung, and Yilan County will begin administering second doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine to the 12-17 age group from Thursday, the first to do so after a delay stemming from concerns over myocarditis and pericarditis.

New Taipei, Miaoli County, and Nantou County will begin a similar rollout on Friday, while other cities and counties will start on or after Dec. 20, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said Wednesday.

Those in the 12-17 age group can decide to get their second shot at school or at a hospital, as was the case with the first dose, according to the CECC.

The CECC had originally held off fully vaccinating the age group due to concerns over myocarditis, which is inflammation of the heart muscle, and pericarditis, which is inflammation of the outer lining of the heart.

Although rare, the two diseases have occurred more frequently in adolescent males after receiving a second vaccine dose, according to the World Health Organization.

After analyzing the risks of COVID-19 infection, severe illness, and death in adolescents, as well as reported cases of myocarditis and pericarditis among vaccine recipients in Taiwan and in other countries, Taiwan’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) recommended that those in the age-group get a second shot of the vaccine after a minimum interval of 12 weeks.

The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is the only COVID-19 vaccine that has been offered to the 12-17 age group in Taiwan. The rollout of first doses for 12-17 year-olds began on Sept. 22.

As of Monday, 91 percent of the 1.2 million 12-17 year-olds in Taiwan have received their first dose, according to data from the CECC and the Ministry of the Interior.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel