CORONAVIRUS/1st-dose BNT; 2nd-dose AZ, Moderna in Oct. 22-Nov. 3 vaccine rollout: CECC

Taipei, Oct. 13 (CNA) A new round of COVID-19 vaccinations scheduled for Oct. 22-Nov. 3 will be open to eligible first-dose Pfizer-BioNTech (BNT) and second-dose AstraZeneca (AZ) and Moderna recipients, Health Minister Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) said during a press briefing Wednesday.

Approximately 3.9 million recipients are eligible for the latest round, which will be split into two phases, according to the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC).

First phase

The initial phase will cover all first-dose BNT recipients 30 and older, those 55 and above vaccinated with a first dose of Moderna on or before July 16, and second-dose AZ recipients aged 38 and above vaccinated on or before July 30.

Those yet to receive a first dose who registered a willingness to be vaccinated with the BNT vaccine before noon on Oct. 13 will be able to book an appointment from 10 a.m. Oct. 18-12 p.m. Oct. 20.

Eligible second-dose recipients will be able to book appointments from 10 a.m. Oct. 19 to 12 p.m. Oct. 20 for AZ, and from 2 p.m. Oct. 19 to 12 p.m. Oct. 20 for Moderna.

First-phase vaccinations will be carried out from Oct. 22-27.

Second phase

The second phase will cover all first-dose BNT recipients aged 23 and above and those 18 and over vaccinated with a first dose of Moderna on or before July 16, as well as AZ recipients 18 and over vaccinated on or before July 30 and those over 45 and above vaccinated with AZ between July 31 and Aug. 6.

Appointments for a first BNT shot and a second Moderna dose will be open from 10 a.m. Oct. 25-12 p.m. Oct. 27.

Second-dose AZ recipients will be able to book an appointment from 10 a.m. Oct. 26-12 p.m. Oct. 27.

Second-phase vaccinations will be administered between Oct. 28 and Nov. 3.

Chen also advised members of the public to wait a minimum of seven days between receiving the seasonal flu vaccination, which started on Oct. 1, and a COVID-19 vaccine shot.

Also Wednesday, Taiwan took delivery of a new batch of 1.36 million doses of the AZ COVID-19 vaccine, bringing the total number of AZ doses in Taiwan to 6.38 million, the CECC said. The latest batch expires on Jan. 31, 2022.

The 6.38 million doses of AZ vaccine is part of a 10 million-dose order Taiwan placed with the British-Swedish pharmaceutical company on Oct. 30, 2020.

With the new round of vaccinations, all eligible age groups will have been covered by the government's vaccination program, according to Chen.

To date, 58.88 percent of people in Taiwan have received the first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, six months after the rollout began on March 22, while 20 percent have been fully vaccinated.

The CECC aims to have a first-dose vaccination coverage rate of more than 70 percent and a full vaccination coverage rate of more than 30 percent in Taiwan by the end of this month, Chen said.

Recent cases

Oct. 13: Taiwan reports 4 new imported COVID-19 cases; zero local cases, deaths

Oct. 12: Taiwan reports 4 new imported COVID-19 cases, zero deaths

Oct. 11: Taiwan reports 11 new COVID-19 cases, zero deaths

Oct. 10: Taiwan reports 11 new COVID-19 cases, zero deaths

Oct. 9: Taiwan reports 4 new COVID-19 cases, one death