Health Minister Chen Shih-chung says Taiwan is mulling ways of easing COVID-19 border restrictions. His comments came in an interview with a local newspaper – the United Daily News (UDN) – over the weekend.
In the interview, Chen said the current plan is to roll back restrictions in two stages. The first stage will involve shortening quarantine requirements for people who have been vaccinated. Under the current rules, most people entering Taiwan have to undergo a 14-day quarantine. But Chen says that if inoculated travelers can prove that they do not have the virus and they do have antibodies, then the quarantine will be reduced to seven days.
Chen says the second stage will come once 60% of Taiwan is vaccinated. At that point, he says, quarantine requirements will be eliminated entirely.
The health minister responded to questions at the legislature on Monday. When asked if Taiwan would use “vaccine passports” to identify low-risk travelers, Chen said that forgery is a concern. He says the World Health Organization needs more time to ensure that vaccine passports cannot be forged.
Chen also says that vaccines do not guarantee immunity. He says it’s safer to ask people for proof that they have COVID-19 antibodies.