It won’t make any difference if they’re expired.
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Now we know the answer: expanded eligibility (aka the second round) for this booster shot is scheduled to begin on October 3. This would include the following people:
People aged 50 to 64 . . . medical personnel, airline or ship crew members, care facility employees, workers at airports and other ports of entry, and people whose job requires them to be in contact with individuals in quarantine.
In addition, those aged 18 or older who have to travel abroad for business, public matters, or diplomatic reasons can get the vaccine, but will have to present an air ticket and either an invitation letter or a travel approval from the company or government authority.
If you fit one of these categories, your previous shot must also have been a minimum of at least three months ago.
Source: https://focustaiwan.tw/society/202209280011
Guy
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Meanwhile, we also know that the Novavax, administered as a primary series (i.e. first and second shots) or as a booster will be administered starting on September 30. It’s available to anyone 12 years old and older.
Source: the Focus Taiwan article linked immediately above.
Guy
Seems a bit risky to get it immediately before a trip abroad, given that in the preliminary study marginally more people caught COVID after getting the bivalent booster. 
Among all participants, starting 14 days after the booster and regardless of prebooster SARS-CoV-2 infection status, SARS-CoV-2 infection occurred in 11 participants (2.5%) in the mRNA-1273.214 group and in 9 participants (2.4%) in the mRNA-1273 group. Asymptomatic infection occurred in 6 participants (1.4%) in the mRNA-1273.214 group and in 7 participants (1.9%) in the mRNA-1273 group; Covid-19 according to the COVE trial definition occurred in 4 participants (0.9%) and in 2 participants (0.5%), respectively, and Covid-19 according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) definition occurred in 5 participants (1.1%) and in 2 participants (0.5%), respectively.
In participants with no previous SARS-CoV-2 infection, infections occurred in 11 of 339 participants (3.2%) in the mRNA-1273.214 group and in 5 of 266 participants (1.9%) in the mRNA-1273 group after the booster (Table S12). Asymptomatic infection occurred in 6 participants (1.8%) in the mRNA-1273.214 group and in 4 participants (1.5%) in the mRNA-1273 group; Covid-19 according to the COVE trial definition occurred in 4 participants (1.2%) and in 1 participant (0.4%), respectively, and Covid-19 according to the CDC definition occurred in 5 participants (1.5%) and in 1 participant (0.4%), respectively.
There were three SARS-CoV-2 reinfections in the mRNA-1273 group. No emergency department visits or hospitalizations due to Covid-19 were seen.
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Expanded rollout of the new Moderna bivalent booster will begin after the long weekend on October 11. All adults 18 and up will be eligible, provided that the last shot one received (either the second shot in a primary series, or a booster) was three months earlier.
The CECC also advises that if you tested positive, you should wait three months before getting this booster to maximize its effectiveness.
Source: https://focustaiwan.tw/society/202210050017
Guy
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The CECC don’t seem to be quoted in the article as saying anything at all about “maximizing its effectiveness”. Did you add that? 
The new vaccine is available only as a booster shot and should be taken at least 12 weeks after an individual’s previous shot – whether the last primary dose (second shot) or a first or second booster – Taiwan’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) said.
Inoculated individuals who have already contracted the virus should wait three months after testing negative to receive the booster, the CECC said.
Well it’s possible you could know you recently had COVID but didn’t report it . . . and then here comes the new bivalent booster, which you could get as you are eligible . . . but this is not recommended by health authorities, not because it’ll damage you but because the effect of the booster will be muted in such circumstances. The relevant part of the article is here:
Inoculated individuals who have already contracted the virus should wait three months after testing negative to receive the booster, the CECC said.
And based on what I have read elsewhere, aiming for a six month interval after your last shot is probably best, but I suspect the authorities in Taiwan see the persistently high number of local cases, and would prefer people to get their boosters sooner than later.
Guy
My point was more that the CECC don’t seem to have made any claim about maximizing effectiveness, at least judging from that article (they may well have made such a claim elsewhere, of course).
The jury’s still out on that, IMO.
Somewhat odd phrasing for people already having antibodies and having no immediate need for another booster…
Not sure about that. I may well be remembering incorrectly, but thought the antibody levels drop to essentially baseline within 2-3 months after vaccination. Curious what the logic would be for six months.
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This is my source. The authors are taking issue with policy in the US, but their reasoning could in some ways also apply to us in Taiwan:
Guy
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The CECC have thoroughly mastered the art of suggesting that they know what they’re talking about while never actually giving reasons for their claims.
IIRC the problem with getting “boosted” after infection is precisely that the risk of adverse events is heightened (and as Andrew mentioned - what on earth would be the point?). I don’t pretend to know why that is so, and there’s no point googling it because the relevant research will be down on page 18,762 of the search results, but it seems to be a reliable observation, with the mRNA shots at least. What you’re effectively doing is introducing a synthetic virus - one which is designed to completely evade your body’s immune defences - immediately after your body has done whatever it nornally does to protect itself from such an event. Hardly surprising that it does the biological equivalent of screaming “WTAF” when it encounters what looks like a pathogen that it can’t control.
EDIT: seems like Google’s censorship algorithms aren’t firing on all cylinders, although this refers to first dose:
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“Blanket booster programmes are likely to prolong the pandemic, rather than ending it, by diverting supply to countries that already have high levels of vaccination coverage, giving the virus more opportunity to spread and mutate.” WHO Director-General, Dec. 2021.
Blanket booster shots in Taiwan probably deserves an oops.
Maybe even an oof.
How does one actually get a 2nd booster shot? Is there a website for it? I tried https://booking.health.gov.tw/Home/notyet and it doesn’t accept my ARC number as valid
Seems to accept mine, are you using the old or new format?
Old format. I see the website just changed, so I’ll try later.
Are forumosans aware of any walk-in sites in Taipei or environs providing booster shots?
Any help provided would be much appreciated.
Guy
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https://www.cdc.gov.tw/File/Get/FEXvbz9wwX6L_HrGi8uTpA
Even though the Global Mall in Zhonghe is listed, you are still required to book online. There are lots of available slots though.
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Thank you for that list.
Based on the link: Taipei City nada. WTF!
Guy
They probably dont want those unvaxxed thrice wishwash coming into their space 
I don’t want to say I’m aware of but someone just checked on the locations and said go there and I went there and I got in.
Seems like many some most all have walk in opportunities.
I can provide the exact location but now there or some new vaccines so.