Vaccine appointments opened up on Monday for first shots of Pfizer and second shots of Medigen. Already, more than five hundred and seventy thousand people have booked a Pfizer shot in this ninth round of vaccination, which starts on Saturday. More than two hundred and eighty thousand people have booked their second shot of Medigen. Among them are the president and vice president, who will get their second shot of the domestically produced vaccine next Thursday.

At 10 o''clock, bookings opened up for Pfizer vaccination. Eligible people were able to log into the system, pick a vaccination site, and book a time for their shot.

Booked Pfizer shot
I''ve been waiting for Pfizer or Moderna. Because there''s enough Pfizer to go around, I came here early in the morning to get an appointment set up. I came before the scheduled time, so that I wouldn''t lose out to other people.

This man went to his local pharmacy to get help making his appointment. Starting Wednesday, Pfizer will be administered to students aged 12 to 17 on school campuses. Later in the week, the ninth round of vaccination will begin, targeting people 18 to 22, those 65 and older, and people aged 40 and up who have designated health conditions. About 900,000 people are now eligible to make an appointment online. As of 1 p.m. on Monday, more than 572,000 people had booked their shot.

Chen Shih-chung
Health minister
There are 906,086 registered people eligible to book the Pfizer vaccine. In the morning, already 572,678 people had made an appointment.

Second shots of Medigen will also be offered in the ninth vaccination round. About 650,000 people are eligible. As of 1 p.m. on Monday, more than 280,000 people had booked their shot, including President Tsai Ing-wen and Vice President Lai Ching-te. Both will be getting their shot on Sept. 30 at NTU Hospital. On social media, Tsai called on those eligible to schedule an appointment before the deadline on Wednesday.

Also on social media, Hon Hai founder Terry Gou said another shipment of Pfizer vaccines would arrive soon. If all goes smoothly, they''ll reach Taiwan on Wednesday, he said.

Chen Shih-chung
Health minister
Right now we can''t confirm the delivery date of the Pfizer vaccines. We''ll be receiving more Pfizer vaccines over these days, but we can''t have a full grasp of the situation. We make our plans as each shipment comes.

So far, 49.65% of Taiwan''s population has received at least one dose of a COVID vaccine.