TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) on Tuesday (Sept. 13) said that non-high-risk individuals can wait until November to get their fourth COVID shot, which will likely be designed to protect against the BA.5 subvariant of Omicron.
On Sept. 2, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) in a meeting on Sept. 2 granted emergency use authorization for Moderna's second-generation COVID vaccine which targets both the original virus and the Omicron subvariant BA.1. However, the government was criticized by many for taking too long to approve the new vaccine, which they argued will soon be obsolete with BA.5 rapidly becoming the dominant subvariant.
During a press conference, CECC head Victor Wang (王必勝) was asked whether the center thinks it is advisable for non-high-risk individuals to wait to receive their fourth COVID shot in November, when a vaccine for BA.5 may be available in Taiwan. Wang said that people who are at low risk of developing complications from COVID and wish to wait for the BA.5 next-generation bivalent vaccine can do so.
Wang said that the CECC is working on purchasing the vaccine as soon as possible, and that both BNT and Moderna have informed the CECC that they will provide review materials for their BA.5 bivalent vaccines as soon as late September.
The CECC said that if the vaccines pass the review process, the center will begin the process of purchasing the jabs. Wang estimated that the vaccines will arrive in Taiwan in or after November and said that people who are not in high-risk categories can wait until the next-generation jabs are available.
It is estimated that 3 million doses of the BA.1 vaccine will soon arrive in Taiwan. Wang said that the ACIP recommends that people aged 50 and over and people in certain high-risk groups be prioritized for the vaccines.