Taiwan's unvaccinated population aged 50 and above who have registered for both the AstraZeneca and Pfizer-BioNTech (BNT) vaccines will be able to choose either one for their first jab in the next round of vaccinations starting Nov. 5, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said Saturday.
Those who fall into this category will be able to make an appointment for their first Pfizer-BNT shot between Nov. 3 at 10 a.m. and Nov. 4 at noon on the government's vaccination platform, CECC spokesman Chuang Jen-hsiang (???) said at a daily press briefing.
For the first shot of the AstraZeneca jab, Chuang said the appointment window will open instead between Nov. 3 at 2 p.m. and Nov. 4 at noon.
The first shots will be administered from Nov. 5-12, he said.
The upcoming round of vaccinations, as announced by the CECC on Friday, will also be available to eligible groups looking to get their second jab of the Pfizer-BNT and AstraZeneca vaccines that will be administered from Nov. 5-12 as well.
Asked about the mix-and-match AstraZeneca and Pfizer-BNT vaccine approach previously considered by the CECC, Chuang responded at the press event that the initial plan is to have it rolled out in November, but will still depend largely on if Taiwan can receive enough of the vaccines delivered.
According to the CECC, a total of 403,114 COVID-19 vaccine doses were administered in Taiwan on Friday.
Based on data released by the epidemic center as of 10 a.m. Saturday, 72.34 percent of Taiwan's population of 23.43 million have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, while 32.14 percent have been fully vaccinated.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel