TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — More than 4,300 bus drivers and station staff on routes from some of the worst affected COVID-19 areas became eligible for vaccinations Friday (July 2), according to the Ministry of Transportation.

The measure is valid for drivers on routes starting in Taipei City, New Taipei City, Miaoli County, the east coast counties of Yilan, Hualien and Taitung, and Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, which is located in Taoyuan City.

The ministry’s Directorate General of Highways (DGH) said it had asked the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) for the bus company employees to be listed as a priority group, CNA reported.

A total of 16 hospitals in 16 counties and cities will inoculate the drivers and bus station staff, with the bus companies organizing a schedule for the vaccinations. The employees have been asked to bring along the required documents, fill out a questionnaire about their health, and remain at the vaccination site for 30 minutes in case of side effects.

After Taiwan raised its COVID alert to Level 3 in mid-May, travel on public transport diminished markedly, but as the daily number of new cases has started falling, more people have been traveling, reports said.