TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — People should receive one COVID-19 vaccine shot per year, with high-risk cases receiving two jabs at least six months apart, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said Tuesday (Feb. 21).

The recommendations were decided on during a meeting of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) Monday (Feb. 20), according to CECC Spokesman Philip Lo (羅一鈞).

While the average citizen would have enough protection against COVID and its latest variants with one shot per year, the elderly and people with a background of chronic diseases should receive two jabs per year, with at least six months between the two, Radio Taiwan International (RTI) reported.

Lo said the CECC would join forces with local governments in promoting booster jabs during March and April for people who had not been inoculated during the previous three months. The vaccinations will take place in large public places, but could also be done at home, he said.

The official emphasized Taiwan had no shortage of vaccine doses. The country currently disposed of more than two million BioNTech vaccine doses, almost two million from Novavax, 898,000 bivalent vaccine doses against the BA.1 variant, 1.5 million next-generation boosters against BA.5, and 128,000 Moderna shots for children, Lo said.

He added the CECC would unveil more details about its new vaccine policies at a news conference Thursday (Feb. 23). The changes were reportedly motivated by the stabilization of the pandemic and the relaxation of restrictions.