People aged 38 and over will be able to make a COVID-19 vaccination appointment starting Tuesday morning. Central Epidemic Command Center says it will send out text messages to about a million and a half people (1.44 million people) starting at 10am, asking them to book a time slot.
The last round of vaccinations was aimed at people aged 48 and over. But Health Minister Chen Shih-chung says only 84% of people who expressed an interest in vaccination actually got the jab. That’s why officials are opening up appointments to people aged 38 and over.
Chen says more than a million of the text messages going out on Tuesday will be people in the 38+ age group. Another 250,000 will go to people who were eligible but did not book an appointment in the last round, and 3,400 people who had appointments cancelled due to last week’s typhoon.
This week’s vaccinations will use doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine. People will be able to access the booking platform until noon on July 29. Vaccination will take place from July 30 till August 6.