Taipei, June 14 (CNA) Taichung and Kaohsiung cities and Chiayi County will adopt a COVID-19 vaccine delivery method inspired by a town in Japan to make the inoculation process that starts Tuesday easier for the elderly, the local governments said.
Dubbed the "Umi-machi style," seniors who come to get their jabs at designated venues will only have to stay seated on their chairs while a team of medical staff move from one person to another to give them a vaccine shot.
Umi, a town located in Fukuoka Prefecture, conceived of the idea to deliver shots in a more user-friendly way by observing Toyota assembly lines, which are renowned for being efficient.
Taichung, which has about 36,000 people aged over 85, will try to give vaccine jabs to 120 people an hour using this method over a three-day period beginning Tuesday.
According to Mayor Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕), the vaccine shots will be offered at 64 venues across the city, and vaccine recipients simply remain in their seats through the entire process while the team tends to them one by one.
There was no indication how big each group will be or how long the seniors will have to sit, but officials said the method makes getting vaccinated much easier for people who have trouble moving around.
Kaohsiung, meanwhile, will administer the shots to its 31,000 residents aged 87 and over, also starting Tuesday over a three-day period.
The city said it has already sent out notifications for them to arrive at their designated venues to be vaccinated.
Elderly residents who have not received the notification, who need help with transportation because of physical disabilities, or whose household registration is not in Kaohsiung, should contact their local community office for assistance, it said.
In Chiayi, which began administering the COVID-19 vaccines to local medical staff and quarantine workers on Monday, said vaccine jabs will be administered to seniors aged over 85 from Tuesday to Thursday.
They process will take place at various elementary and secondary schools scattered across the county, it said.
For elderly residents with disabilities, arrangements will also be made by health authorities to provide transportation for them to arrive at the venues or have medical personnel go to their homes to vaccinate them, it said.
