Taiwan''s one-dose vaccination rate has reached 77%. Two-dose coverage is just below 50%. Those numbers should go up fast over the next seven days, during the 15th round of vaccination. In the upcoming rollout, more than 1.43 million people have an appointment to receive a Pfizer vaccine. To meet stronger-than-expected demand for the brand, the CECC has allocated about 95,000 extra doses for administration in nine cities and counties.

It''s the second day of bookings for the 15th vaccination round, and Pfizer vaccines are in high demand. All the clinics in this neighborhood are fully booked.

On the morning before the booking deadline, nearly all the timeslots were spoken for.

Huang Yen-ju
Pharmacist
Here at Taipei''s Zhongshan District, all our vaccination clinics were booked full by 10:30. The only places still available are bigger venues, like Taipei Expo Park. We haven''t seen this situation before. Usually we''d still see some slots left for off-peak periods.

About 2.91 million people were eligible for a Pfizer shot in the 15th round of vaccination. As of the noon deadline, 1.43 million of them had booked a shot. Another 730,000 people were eligible for AstraZeneca, and nearly 264,000 of them booked a shot. Meanwhile, about 95,000 people made a booking for Moderna. With more than a million people getting Pfizer, clinics have a challenge ahead of them.

Voice of Ou Chia-ling
Taipei Department of Heath
On Dec. 1, Nov. 30 and Nov. 29, if I remember correctly, Taipei Expo Park will administer 6,000 additional Pfizer doses on each of those three days.

Originally 1.4 million Pfizer doses were allocated for the 15th vaccination round. To meet the unexpected demand for Pfizer, nine local governments including Taipei, New Taipei, Taichung and Kaohsiung opened extra clinic slots.

Chen Shih-chung
Health minister
I don''t think that there will be issue with Taipei''s capacity. It has a lot of clinics and hospitals. So people who missed the booking deadline can arrange to get their shot at a medical center.

The health minister says Taipei should be able to handle the demand for Pfizer. People who miss the CECC''s appointment deadline can still get a shot, by booking directly with local hospitals. Extra doses will be available at a list of hospitals to be released Thursday or Friday.