Taipei, Sept. 27 (CNA) People who are eligible to receive their second dose of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine will need to make their appointments online, rather than wait for notification from their local governments, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said Monday.
People in the 50-64 age group who got their first AstraZeneca shot on or before July 22 must register online before noon on Wednesday their interest in receiving the second dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine, Health Minister Chen Shih-chung said during Monday's daily CECC press briefing.
In Taiwan, individuals will first need to register before they can book a COVID-19 jab at a designated clinic or hospital where the vaccination is performed.
Chen pointed out that people who have already done so on the 1922 vaccine registration platform will not have to do it again, unless they wish to remove the AstraZeneca vaccine as their preference.
According to the CECC, the online appointment for a second jab is due to open later this week, with the shots to be carried out before the National Day holiday on Oct. 10.
The announcement came as a drastic change from the previous day when the CECC said people who already got their first jab before July 23 can get their second dose, and they had to be over 52.
The CECC had also said online appointments are not needed as local health authorities will inform people who are eligible for the vaccine when and where they can get their jab.
But on Monday, Chen, who heads the CECC, said feedback was received from local governments that getting a manifest of those eligible for a jab can be a daunting task so they would prefer if people just make the appointments themselves.
However, people aged over 65 and eligible to receive their second shot will still be required to wait for local governments to inform them when they can get it, Chen said.
Meanwhile, in Taipei, city residents aged over 70 who already had their first Moderna shot can get their second jab by booking an appointment online (https://booking.health.gov.tw/) from 9 a.m. Tuesday to 5 p.m. Wednesday, according to the city government.
