TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taipei is drawing up a list of an estimated 700 homeless people to inoculate against COVID-19, reports said Tuesday (June 22).

Because both the number and whereabouts of the homeless are difficult to pin down, the capital’s Department of Social Welfare is working with social groups to try and locate them, CNA reported.

Since the start of the pandemic, numerous new faces have appeared near Taipei Railway Station and in Wanhua District’s Bangka Park, officials said. As a result, the city is cooperating with social groups to draw up a list of homeless who qualify for COVID shots.

An estimated 100 homeless people living at shelters could receive shots first, though the others would be harder to monitor, officials said. Members of the social services have expressed concern that if any serious side effects appear after the first round of jabs, homeless people will be unable to receive timely assistance.

Speaking at the Taipei City Council on Monday (June 21), Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) said that even though the number of homeless is relatively low, it's still too difficult to monitor their location, so it would be better to vaccinate all of them as soon as possible.