TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan’s Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) head Chen Shi-chung (陳時中) announced Saturday (Aug. 7) that starting next week, staff at medical institutions across the nation can receive a Moderna shot as their second dose if they received an AstraZeneca jab for their first.

Chen said this new policy only applies to those who received an AZ shot at least 10 weeks ago, according to a CECC press release. He added that staff must be working at medical institutions designated for COVID-19 treatment, including those with special wards, negative pressure rooms, or testing sites. Approximately 33,000 people are eligible for this mixed vaccination policy.

The CECC head said that since the country's Moderna vaccine doses still have to be defrosted, jabs will begin next week, as soon as the command center knows how many people will register and once vaccines are allocated to the designated hospitals.

The vaccination team under the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices said that if a person has received a first dose of the AZ vaccine, their second dose can be an mRNA vaccine.