First batch of Taiwan residents get COVID-19 jab in Shanghai
The first batch of Taiwan residents in Shanghai received their first COVID-19 vaccination on Monday.
People from Taiwan living in Shanghai, aged 18 to 75, can make a reservation for a COVID-19 vaccination free of charge from Monday.
By about 2pm, about 30 Taiwan residents had arrived at the Guanghua Hospital in Changning District.
Each of them has a permit as a Taiwan resident or a medical insurance certificate for the Chinese mainland, which allows them to make and confirm appointments through the Health Cloud app.
Fang Yu-shu from Taipei was one who received her injection of the vaccine produced by Sinovac. She runs a new media marketing company in Shanghai.
Fang said she learned of the new policy of making reservation to get the vaccine from a WeChat group for Taiwan residents.
“I made a reservation for the vaccination at 11am on the Health Cloud app,” said Fang. “The process was quite smooth.”
She didn’t hesitate to get the vaccination as many of her friends who’d been vaccinated were all in good condition.
“I feel perfectly fine after the vaccination,” said Fang.
Fang added that she plans to encourage more workers in her company to get vaccinated after her successful jab.
Hwang Syau-ting, who works at a bakery from Taiwan, also got the vaccination news from WeChat.
She registered right away after making inquiries at the subdistrict in Hongqiao where she is based. The registration was very convenient.
“I’ve been waiting for the vaccination for a long time,” said Hwang. “I’m very excited that the pandemic is going to be contained gradually.”
Grateful for the free vaccination, Huang hoped some other workers from Taiwan at her company without a residence permit could be able to get the injection soon.
“I think there’s no other country in the world that is on par with China in terms of the prevention and control of COVID-19,” she said. “So there’s no need to worry about the efficacy of the vaccines. This is no joke.”
Those without residence permits or medical insurance certificates can make reservations with their Chinese mainland travel permit and wait for further notice, while Injections for Taiwan students and teachers will be organized by local schools.
Chang Po-nan, a lawyer from Taiwan, said he got the information from the city’s Taiwan affairs office.
“The whole procedure from registration to vaccination took me only 3 to 5 minutes,” said Chang.
Yang Chin-ming, who works for an export trade company in Gubei, said he wished to receive the vaccination as soon as possible for safety reasons.
“I signed up in my neighborhood and came to the vaccination site as early as possible today,” said Yang on Monday. “I feel very thankful that people from Taiwan are not left behind.”
After a 30-minute medical observation, the recipients were advised to take a good rest after going home and drink water to prevent adverse reactions. They need to get their second dose after at least 14 days.