Quarantine for Confirmed Cases Shortened to 5 Days Starting Nov. 14 指揮中心宣布 14日起確診隔離5天可外出

The Central Epidemic Command Center announced that the quarantine period for the confirmed COVID cases will be shortened to five days starting Nov. 14. Health experts advise the public to continue to mask up and wash hands.

The Central Epidemic Command Center announced that starting Nov. 14, it will shorten the seven-day quarantine for confirmed COVID cases to five days. Health experts agree with the change since it allows people who are healthy enough to get back to work quickly. The good outweighs the bad. However, experts would like to remind the public that those who still test positive on the 6th day can still be somewhat contagious since everyone heals at a different pace. Those who choose to go out while still being positive after 5 days can still pose a risk to others.

Huang Li-min, Honorary Chair, Infectious Diseases Society of Taiwan: “I would say around 5 percent of people who decide to go out to public places after the 5th day to the 7th day are still contagious. Those people should make it a top priority to keep their masks on while going out.”

Meanwhile, Taiwan is currently administering Moderna Omicron BA.1 bivalent mRNA vaccine booster nationwide. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has also recently issued an emergency use authorization (EUA) for the next-generation bivalent COVID-19 vaccines from BNT and Moderna that target the Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants. They will be suitable for people aged 12 and above. One health expert shared his concern that the government has no current plans of purchasing Pfizer-BNT bivalent COVID-19 vaccines for children under the age of 12 since authorities are still trying to finish administering the original Moderna vaccines.

Wang Jen-hsien, Chair, Taiwan Counter Contagious Diseases Society: “Children aged 5 and 6 are a small group within the whole population. They are not involved in voting for elections so they can be neglected. How about buying 10 to 20 thousand doses for them? You should go ahead and give them some vaccines. They have become victims, the poor ones without vaccines under current policy.”

Wang urged Taiwan to purchase Pfizer-BNT bivalent vaccines suitable for children aged 5 and above since Moderna's bivalent vaccines are only suitable for children aged 6 and above. Meanwhile, the CECC said the first batch of Moderna's next-generation bivalent COVID-19 vaccines should arrive in early November and will be available to the public later this month. The government will make progressive adjustments based on how vaccination goes. 

 

新冠本土疫情趨緩，疫情指揮中心宣布14日起，確診只要隔離5天就可以外出。對此，有專家表示，確診隔離從7天縮短為5天，可以讓有工作能力、需求的人，提早回到職場，整體來看，利大於弊，因為新冠病毒感染，通常是初期前幾天病毒量最多，但每個人排毒時間不同，若第6天快篩陽性仍出門，社區還是存在一定風險。

台灣感染症醫學會名譽理事長黃立民指出：「第5天到第7天呢，可能會多放個5%的人，他出來社區活動的時候，他可能還有點病毒，所以這個就是要搭配，第1個，他還是盡量要戴口罩。」

此外，莫德納BA.1次世代疫苗如火如荼開打中，有專家質疑，食藥署已核准通過莫德納和BNT的BA.5次世代疫苗輸入，用於12歲以上青少年及成人使用，但是指揮中心疑似為了消化當初購買的2000萬劑莫德納疫苗，而不再洽購BNT次世代疫苗，恐怕讓12歲以下孩童變成次世代疫苗的孤兒。

中華民國防疫學會理事長王任賢指出：「你這個5到6歲就一個年齡層，這個是小眾，可能跟選票沒有關係啊，忽略掉，你買個1萬劑、2萬劑給他也可以，讓他打了嘛，所以這就是我說的，在目前這個政策下，第1批的2代疫苗的受害者。」

王任賢強調，BNT的BA.5次世代疫苗正在歐盟申請EUA，很快就會下修到5歲以上幼兒使用，但是莫德納是6歲以上才能接種，因此呼籲政府應洽購BNT次世代疫苗，為這群弱勢孩童接種。而指揮中心則是表示，莫德納BA.5疫苗最快這個月上旬到貨，11月下旬開放民眾接種，到時看民眾接種情況，會滾動式調整疫苗政策。