Taipei, June 14 (CNA) The Consumers' Foundation urged the government Monday to add delivery drivers to the priority list for COVID-19 vaccination, as they are providing a vital service to millions of people during the current outbreak of the disease.

With the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) advising people to stay home during the national Level 3 alert for COVID-19, each of the country's 88,000 food delivery workers is averaging around 40 deliveries a day, the foundation said, citing data from the labor ministry.

Based on those statistics, an estimated 3.5 million customers per day are interacting with delivery workers, Consumers' Foundation Chairman Terry Huang said at a press conference.

That number of contacts is no less than those of the people in the CECC's categories two and three for vaccination priority, the foundation's secretary-general Hsu Tse-yu said at the press conference.

Categories two and three on the list are central and local government epidemic prevention workers and people at higher risk of COVID-19 exposure due to their jobs, such as flight crews and employees at quarantine hotels.

Hsu said delivery drivers are likely to be included in category seven of the CECC's priority list but may not be able to receive their shots any time soon because of Taiwan's shortage of vaccines.

He called on the CECC to place delivery workers higher up on its priority list for COVID-19 vaccination, and he also urged delivery companies to provide better safeguards for their employees, such as free rapid testing on a regular basis.

To date, Taiwan has received around 2.1 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines, and people in categories one to six on the CECC priority list are currently eligible to receive the shots.

The estimated 2.675 million people in those categories include medical workers, frontline personnel, seniors, government epidemic prevention workers, and people at a higher risk of COVID-19 exposure due to their jobs.

Category seven includes people employed in the transportation and logistics industries, but the detailed list of workers in that group is still being decided by the Ministry of Transportation and Communications, pending CECC approval.