Taipei, June 26 (CNA) Local authorities around Taiwan have come up with different plans to distribute leftover doses of COVID-19 vaccines at the end of a day after the Central Epidemic Command Center said Friday those doses could be given to anybody aged 18 or over.
Northern Taiwan:
Keelung Mayor Lin Yu-chang said Saturday there have not been that many leftover doses, and the city's current practice is to give them to people in Categories 8-10 on the central government's priority list.
These are people aged 50 and above or have chronic diseases, and the city government has compiled a registry so they can be contacted to receive the leftover doses, he said.
People in Category 8, who are those aged 65 and above, will become eligible for the vaccine starting July 1.
In Taipei and New Taipei, people are being asked to sign up with hospitals and clinics in their neighborhood to be put on a waiting list for the leftover doses.
Taoyuan has a practice similar to the one in Keelung, as the city already has a registry of people who are on the priority list and can be contacted to receive leftover doses.
On Saturday, Taoyuan Mayor Cheng Wen-tsan urged the central government to come up with clearer guidance, but said people in the city could contact hospitals and clinics in the vaccination program to be put on the waiting list for leftover doses.
The Hsinchu City government said Friday that to ensure fairness, only people on its list of vaccine recipients will be contacted when there are leftover doses.
The Hsinchu County government, meanwhile, said there have been very few leftover doses, and that hospitals and clinics could give such doses only to people on the central government's priority list.
In Miaoli County, people can contact hospitals in the vaccination program and government-run health centers to be put on a waiting list for leftover doses, and people on the priority list but not yet eligible will be the first contacted.
Central and southern Taiwan:
In Taichung, Mayor Lu Shiow-yen said Saturday that people can use the existing appointment system of each hospital in the vaccination program to register for leftover doses.
A protocol for the distribution of such doses at the vaccination sites will be unveiled by Wednesday, she said.
The Changhua County government on Friday asked people to stop calling hospitals and clinics, because people in Category 8 will be contacted when there are leftover doses.
However, people in Nantou County are allowed to contact hospitals and clinics in the vaccination program to be put on a waiting list in case there are unused doses.
People in Yunlin and Chiayi counties can also do so, but the Chiayi City government said only people on the priority list can get the leftover doses.
Tainan Mayor Huang Wei-che (黃偉哲) and Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) both said on Friday that their cities do not have an issue with leftover doses, but the cities will consider announcing related rules after discussing the situation with local hospitals and clinics.
The Pingtung County government said Friday there were no leftover doses, because all the doses the county has received from the central government have been used.
The county government will announce which group of people will be eligible to be vaccinated next when it receives another batch of the COVID-19 vaccine, it added.
Eastern Taiwan:
Yilan County's 12 township-level health centers began allowing people to sign up for waiting lists of 150 people each, which were filled in two hours on Friday.
The county government said Saturday that whether it will let more people register depends on progress with the vaccination rollout, adding that people should avoid traveling across townships for a jab under the current Level 3 COVID-19 alert.
The Hualien County government said Friday that from July 3, people can go to vaccination sites across the county 30 minutes before the day's vaccination begins.
Each site will have a waiting list of seven people per day, and the county government asked young people to leave such chances to senior citizens, who are more likely to become very ill if they catch COVID-19.
Taitung County Magistrate Yao Ching-ling (饒慶鈴) said Friday that the county barely has any doses left because of the precision of its rollout of the vaccination program, with two of the county's 16 townships having already used up the doses they were allotted.
Offshore counties:
The Penghu County government said its public health centers will contact eligible people when they have leftover doses, including Category 9 -- people with chronic diseases -- from Saturday.
Starting Monday, people in Kinmen County can call public health centers and clinics in the vaccination program to sign up for their respective waiting list, while Kinmen Hospital has stopped accepting new registrations after over 1,800 people signed up Friday.
The Lienchiang County government, according to local media reports, said it will follow central government practices without giving details.
In Lienchiang, which also known as Matsu, the vaccination program is handled by the county hospital and each township's public health center.
