TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Mega City in New Taipei City’s Banqiao District is likely to become the first department store in north Taiwan to offer COVID-19 vaccinations to the public next week, reports said Friday (Dec. 3).

The government has planned to step up the pace of inoculations in the face of the international spread of the Omicron variant, which has not reached Taiwan yet. Retailer PX Mart has already offered to host the vaccination campaign at its supermarkets beginning next week, while the Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) was considering opening up its stations.

Far Eastern Department Stores said Friday a team from Far Eastern Memorial Hospital in Banqiao had already inspected Mega City, and inoculations could start as early as next week, CNA reported. The hospital and the department store are both managed by the same corporation, the Far Eastern Group.

The site was located close to New Taipei City’s Christmas market, the city government, and a building which housed stations for the Taipei Mass Rapid Transit system, the TRA, and the high-speed rail. The vaccine area would be set up near a supermarket in the basement where there was sufficient space to administer the vaccinations and for the public to rest afterward, the company said.