The vaccine appointment system opened once again on Wednesday offering appointments for the 21st round of vaccinations. Vaccine administering will begin on Feb. 7 right after the Spring Festival break. But to keep vaccines flowing, Taipei, New Taipei and Taoyuan have announced they''ll open up vaccine clinics over the Lunar New Year.
The pharmacy has only just opened, but already, many older adults are here to book a booster shot. After hearing that a fresh shipment of Moderna vaccines arrived in Taiwan on Tuesday, Moderna was the brand of choice.
Some of the people had come the day before, but appointments for Moderna were already fully booked. They’re back again today to give it another try.
Member of public
I waited for Moderna for a long time. I waited about a month or two months for my booster shot.
Member of public
I didn’t know I could make an appointment yesterday. So I asked, and they told me to come back today at 9:50.
Everyone wants a booster, and local borough offices are working full time to help local residents book a shot. In this 21st round of vaccinations, shots won’t be administered until Feb. 7, more than 10 days after the booking system closes.
But vaccines will still be available in Taipei and New Taipei over the Lunar New Year. In New Taipei, drop-in vaccination clinics will be open from Feb. 2 to Feb. 6. Over in Taipei, it’s from Feb. 4 to Feb. 6. Taoyuan has also announced it will open vaccination clinics over Spring Festival.
Cheng Wen-tsan
Taoyuan mayor
After the start of the new year, we’ll have clinics on Feb. 4 and Feb. 5, that’s the fourth and fifth days of the new year. As before, northern districts will be serviced by Taoyuan Arena and southern districts by the Veterans Service Office.
Boosters will be available before the next vaccination round to raise defenses against omicron. One of the omicron sub-strains currently in Taiwan is the BA.2 variant, which has been detected in more than 40 countries. So far, three members of a family connected to Kaohsiung Port have been confirmed with the sub-strain.
Huang Li-min
NTU Children’s Hospital superintendent
Currently it seems like it is more transmissible than the original omicron. But it has not yet been determined how much more transmissible it is, experts don’t agree 100%. It could become the next dominant strain. But right now there is no way to know who is right. We’ll have to wait three or four months to find out who was right.
The doctor said there is no consensus on whether BA.2 will become the dominant sub-strain in the world with its enhanced transmissibility. For now, Taiwan is banking on boosting vaccine coverage to reduce the impact of the virus.