Health Minister Chen Shih-chung says that there are no safety issues with people who have received the Taiwan-made Medigen COVID vaccine receiving additional doses of another vaccine.
Taiwan recently authorized people who had been vaccinated with the Medigen vaccine to receive additional shots of other COVID vaccine brands if they have an urgent need to travel.
That policy change came after several countries began requiring foreign visitors to be fully vaccinated for entry. The Medigen COVID-19 vaccine is not an approved vaccine in a vast majority of countries. Therefore, those that have only received the Medigen vaccine are not allowed to enter other countries.
While answering lawmakers’ questions on Wednesday morning, Chen said that as of Tuesday, 18 people who received the Medigen vaccine in the past have received additional shots of a different vaccine. Chen added that it had been at least 28 days since the recipients received their last Medigen shot, meaning they were past the minimum required timeframe to get an additional shot.
Chen said that this new vaccine mixing policy is meant to allow people with urgent travel needs to get to where they need to go.