Health Minister Chen Shih-chung says that the Central Epidemic Command Center will begin offering COVID-19 vaccines to those willing to pay out of pocket from April 21. The government is already distributing the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine to select groups, but despite broadening eligibility twice, the public response has been lukewarm.
Most recently, the government expanded eligibility requirements on April 12. Since then, the government has only given out an additional 1,000 vaccine doses.
For now, only people who need to travel for work, education, medical care or humanitarian reasons will be eligible to pay out-of-pocket for a vaccine. Chen Shih-chung says 10,000 vaccine doses will be made available at 31 hospitals around Taiwan. People must register for the shot beforehand. Anyone getting the shot will have to pay for hospital fees, but not for the cost of the vaccine itself.