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進入《TAIPEI TIMES》 Vigilance is key to easing alert, health official says
Speaking at a news conference after a Cabinet meeting in Taipei yesterday, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Hsueh Jui-yuan says the government might lower the nationwide level 3 COVID-19 alert after July 26 if conditions are right. Photo courtesy of the Executive Yuan
READINESS: Government agencies and companies must have measures in place to respond in case of emergencies if the alert level is to be lowered, Hsueh Jui-yuan said
By Lee Hsin-fang, Wu Liang-yi and Jonathan Chin / Staff reporters, staff writer, with CNA
The government could lower the nationwide level 3 COVID-19 alert after July 26 if vigilance is maintained and proper response measures are in place, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Hsueh Jui-yuan （薛瑞元） told a news conference after a Cabinet meeting yesterday.
The level 3 alert has been in place since May 19, although certain disease control measures were eased from Tuesday.
A precondition for reopening is that public officials must be prepared to take act immediately if confirmed cases are discovered, instead of waiting for the Central Epidemic Command Center （CECC） to give step-by-step instructions, said Hsueh, who heads the center’s medical response division.
As SARS-CoV-2 has not been fully contained, all sectors should be alert and ready with measures to deal with any emergency to prevent the virus from spreading, he added.
That daily confirmed cases have continued fall suggests that the situation is improving, said Centers for Disease Control （CDC） Director-General Chou Jih-haw （周志浩）, who heads the CECC’s disease surveillance division.
The CECC’s main objectives are to enhance screening for COVID-19 at the border, boost vaccine coverage and plan for whether the level 3 alert should be adjusted after July 26, he said.
Government agencies must remain vigilant even if some of the restrictions are relaxed, and officials should continue to monitor changes in the COVID-19 situation, the public mood and media reports to facilitate rolling reviews and adjustments to the restrictions, the ministry said in a news release.
Easing the restrictions by stages is an important and necessary step in managing the outbreak, and the public is urged to follow governmental protocols and protect the nation’s hard-won gains, it said.
In other news, at least five elderly Taichung residents had allegedly received a mix of AstraZeneca and Moderna vaccine doses after lying to medical workers, Taichung Health Bureau officials said.
Mixing vaccines — such as receiving a dose of AstraZeneca for the first shot and a dose of Moderna for the second one — has not been approved by the CECC.
The latest dose-mixing incident has sparked public concern amid reports that people have shared tips online on how to deceive medical workers to get a combination of jabs.
Many vaccination sites are not equipped with National Health Insurance card scanners, which are an essential tool for checking a patient’s medical record, Taichung Health Bureau Director Tseng Tzu-chan （曾梓展） said.
The central government should take steps to address this problem, which has prevented health workers from verifying vaccination records, he said.
CDC Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang （莊人祥）, the CECC spokesman, said that while hospitals have scanners, other venues that administer vaccines have to rely on old-fashioned verification, such as manually examining the vaccination record card or the jab stickers on the National Health Insurance card, he said.
“We urge the public to behave rationally when getting the jab,” he said.
“The WHO has warned people against mixing and matching vaccines on their own,” he added.
新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES
