Fourth shots for at-risk people begin tomorrowRISK REDUCTION: Eligibility is to cover people aged 65 or older, residents of long-term care centers and adults who are immunocompromized but in stable healthBy Lee I-chia / Staff reporterStarting tomorrow, elderly people and people at high risk of developing severe COVID-19 would be eligible for a second booster dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said yesterday. Eligible recipients must have had their booster shot at least five months earlier, the center said. The move aims to reduce the risk of moderate or severe COVID-19 among a certain group of people, said Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center. As of Friday, the nation’s COVID-19 vaccination coverage rates had reached 85.5 percent for a first dose, 80.6 percent for a second dose and 62.3 percent for a first booster dose, he said. The center continues to encourage elderly people and people at high risk of severe illness to get fully vaccinated as soon as possible, he added.
