Vaccine registration for migrant workers and foreigners: New or old ID numbers can be used

The Central Epidemic Command Center (指揮中心) recently announced that the third round of publicly funded vaccine appointments will be open to people over the age of 18 (born before 1992), for orders received until July 15 at 5pm. In addition to local Taiwanese, foreigners with residence permits, legal migrant workers, and new immigrants, may also register on the platform using their residence permit numbers and health insurance card numbers, and can be vaccinated just like the local Taiwanese.

In response to the issue of vaccine appointments using the new ID numbers, the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW, 衛生福利部) pointed out that regardless of whether the health insurance card has an old or a new ID number, as long as it is still valid, it can be used in "convenience stores, pharmacies, and on the “COVID -19 Publicly Funded Vaccine Reservation Platform" (COVID-19 公費疫苗接種網路平臺) to make an appointment.

Read More: Vaccine Registration System: Now open to new immigrants and foreigners in Taiwan

You can register for a vaccination appointment through the "Healthcare Autotoll APP". Photo/ provided by the CECC

“Healthcare Autotoll App” appointment registration

For those with new ID number + new health insurance card: For foreigners who have a new ID number and have used this to apply for health insurance, and for a new health insurance card, they have to re-register with the new health insurance card for the "Health Insurance Autotoll" App. After logging in, they may register to make an appointment for vaccination.

For those with a new ID number + an old health insurance card: If they have a new ID number, but applied for health insurance with their old  ID number, they may continue to log in the Healthcare Autotoll App using the old ID number to make an appointment. For those with a new ID number, and have used their new ID number to apply for health insurance, but "still has an old health insurance card", they cannot apply using the Healthcare Autotoll App, but they can still use the COVID-19 public funded vaccine appointment registration platform, pharmacies, convenience stores and other platforms.

The MOHW also reminded that the ID number used for booking vaccination appointment must be the same as the ID number used for the “wish to register”. The same is the case for registration and printing. The ID number used at the time of appointment must be the same as that used for registering. If the old ID number was used for registration and they  want to change to the new ID number to make an appointment for vaccination, they need to contact the personnel unit to change to the new ID number to complete the appointment.

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Migrant workers may use either the old or the new ID numbers to apply for vaccine appointments. Photo/Retrieved from "China Times"

For people who changed their health insurance card after the first dose, they need to use the new ID number to make an appointment for the second dose and use the new health insurance card for the vaccination. In addition, the public is concerned whether the "Healthcare Autotoll" APP can verify the Covid-19 vaccination records after vaccination. The MOHW pointed out that the Taiwan Centers for Disease Control (CDC, 疾病管制署) is not yet able to send the vaccination information of the new ID number, so only those who used the old health insurance card can check their vaccination records.  The CDC is also improving the system so that people who have the new health insurance card can inquire about the vaccination records of both the old and the new ID numbers in the future.

Currently, the "COVID-19 Publicly Funded Vaccine Reservation Platform" only has a Chinese version, and there is no bilingual version yet. Therefore, foreigners and migrant workers who do not understand Chinese may need to rely on their employers, manpower agencies or close friends to assist them, or seek help from the local government. In addition, according to regulations, migrant workers may also apply for a vaccination leave. From the date of vaccination to 24:00 of the next day, they can apply for leave using their vaccination record card, but the employers are not required to pay their salary. “1095 MigrationTaichung” compiled “Covid-19 Side Effect and Q&A Series” to explain the side effects of the various vaccines and related information about the rights of foreign workers. The vaccine information series is available in Vietnamese, Thai, Indonesian, and Filipino languages.