Taiwan extends free COVID-19 vaccinations through Sept. 28

Taipei, July 25 (CNA) Taiwan's Centers for Disease Control (CDC) on Saturday extended its publicly funded COVID-19 vaccination program through Sept. 28, citing a new wave of infections and persistently low vaccination rates among high-risk groups.

The program, which had been scheduled to end July 31, allows anyone age 6 months and older who has not yet received this season's COVID-19 vaccine to get vaccinated free of charge.

The CDC announced the extension after Taiwan entered a new COVID-19 epidemic phase, with outpatient and emergency room visits rising 66.5 percent in the week of July 12-18 from the previous week.

According to CDC spokesperson Tseng Shu-hui (曾淑慧), more than 90 percent of people who developed severe COVID-19 this season had not received this season's COVID-19 vaccine. Most of the cases occurred in adults age 65 or older and people with chronic illnesses, Tseng said.

As of July 24, about 1.74 million doses of this season's COVID-19 vaccines had been administered. Among people age 65 and older, 21 percent had received a first dose, while only 0.56 percent had received a second dose.

The agency said about 443,000 vaccine doses remain in stock, including Moderna mRNA vaccines and Novavax protein-based vaccines.

The Novavax vaccines will expire July 31 and be discarded afterward. The next batch of COVID-19 vaccines is not expected to become available until October, the CDC said.