TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan's Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) on Tuesday (Aug. 31) announced that the priority group for the first batch of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines will be students between the ages of 12 and 17, while registration will also open up to adults between the ages of 18 and 22.

Health Minister and CECC head Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) announced that afternoon that schools can begin providing rosters for vaccinations for students between the ages of 12 and 17. In addition, adults between the ages of 18 and 22 who have not yet been vaccinated can register their preference for BioNTech and make appointments to be inoculated with the jab.

As of Tuesday afternoon, 3.41 million adults have listed the BioNTech vaccine as their brand of choice, not including minors. Regarding the locations where the BioNTech vaccine will be administered, Chen said that the center is currently planning to have them provided at school campuses and medical institutions designated by local health departments.

When asked how large the shipment of BioNTech shots will be, Chen said it will come in two batches of about 900,000 doses each. He said that given that the new school year is about to start, students are a segment of the population who must be vaccinated.

As for the order of vaccinations, Chen said that the shots will start with older students first before moving to younger ones. Chen said that students aged 12 to 17 will be vaccinated first before adults aged 18 to 22 will be able to receive the jabs.

Regarding a proposal by National Taiwan University that colleges arrange for vaccinations of students on campuses, Chen said that college students are highly autonomous and it would be better if they can register on their own. Nevertheless, he said he would be willing to discuss the proposal with the Ministry of Education.