Taiwan reported one new local COVID case on Tuesday, a man in his 60s who is thought to have NOT been infected recently. The man’s high Ct value of 33.1 indicates he had a low viral load and two tests came back negative after his positive test. He has been classified as an old infection. Meanwhile, bookings opened up on Tuesday for second shots of AstraZeneca and Moderna in round 12th. Borough wardens and pharmacists report that many people turned up seeking help in booking a jab.

Taiwan reported one new local COVID infection on Tuesday, a man in his 60s who presented a Ct value of 33.1. Officials say that although he later tested negative twice in nucleic acid tests, they will still list the man as a COVID case.

Philip Lo
CECC medical response division
His Ct value was very high. And he later tested negative twice. His viral load was very low, and he turned negative very fast. We’re preliminarily considering it to be an old infection.

Officials say the man may have been infected a long time ago, meaning he posed little risk to the community. With Taiwan’s epidemic under control, the task at hand is boosting vaccine coverage. As of Monday, 63.5% of Taiwan’s population had received at least one shot of a COVID vaccine. Appointments are now available for the 12th round of vaccinations.

The phone rings off the hook with people asking the borough warden for help booking a second shot of AstraZeneca. Appointments filled up quickly on the system, and some residents mixed up the opening time.

Shih Yu-ting
Borough warden
Not even I can remember the times. We have different schedules for AstraZeneca, Pfizer and Moderna. The messiest thing about the 12th round of vaccination is that all these brands are available in it.

Three brands of COVID vaccines will be administered in the 12th round of vaccinations. That’s about 1.358 million Pfizer doses, 960,000 AstraZeneca doses and 662,000 Moderna doses. Slots for making appointments for each of them have been scheduled on different days and at different times. Borough wardens and even pharmacies have come out to help locals book their shots.

For many, the time has come for their long-awaited second shot of Moderna. To secure an appointment at a nearby vaccination site, some members of the public turned up at pharmacies to get the help of an expert in the booking process.

Member of the public
It’s been three months since July 15, that’s more than 12 weeks. I don’t know if there’ll still be protection. I just can’t say.

Huang Yen-ju
Pharmacist
When we were booking the shots, the time slots did indeed fill up fast. Appointments on the 1922 website became available at 2 p.m. Some people came over to the pharmacy before 2 to wait.

The 12th round of vaccinations will kick off on Oct. 22, and all of Taiwan is mobilizing. With more vaccines due to go in arms than on any previous round, Taiwan is inching closer to 70% single-dose coverage.