《TAIPEI TIMES》 Fourth shots for at-risk people begin tomorrow

RISK REDUCTION: Eligibility is to cover people aged 65 or older, residents of long-term care centers and adults who are immunocompromized but in stable health

By Lee I-chia / Staff reporter

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Starting tomorrow, elderly people and people at high risk of developing severe COVID-19 would be eligible for a second booster dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, the Central Epidemic Command Center （CECC） said yesterday.

Eligible recipients must have had their booster shot at least five months earlier, the center said.

The move aims to reduce the risk of moderate or severe COVID-19 among a certain group of people, said Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung （陳時中）, who heads the center.

Eligibility covers people aged 65 or older, residents of long-term care centers and people aged 18 or older who are immunocompromised, but have a stable health condition, he said.

Eligible immunocompromised people include those who have received immunosuppressive drugs for cancer treatment in the past year, organ or stem cell transplant recipients, people with moderate or severe congenital immune deficiencies and patients on dialysis, the CECC said.

They also include HIV-positive people, people who are taking immunosuppressive drugs, those who have received chemotherapy or radiation therapy in the past six months, and people with other conditions who doctors consider immunodeficient or immunocompromised and eligible for a booster shot, it said.

Eligible recipients can choose from a half-dose of the Moderna vaccine, a full dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, a full dose of the Medigen vaccine or a full dose of the Novavax vaccine — which has yet to be approved — for their booster shot, regardless of the brand of the doses they previously received, Chen said.

As of Friday, the nation’s COVID-19 vaccination coverage rates had reached 85.5 percent for a first dose, 80.6 percent for a second dose and 62.3 percent for a first booster dose, he said.

The center continues to encourage elderly people and people at high risk of severe illness to get fully vaccinated as soon as possible, he added.

新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES