Taipei unveils vending machines for surgical masks
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Katherine Wei, Katherine Wei Taiwan Correspondent In Taipei
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It is now becoming easier for people in Taipei to get hold of surgical masks - with vending machines dispensing them.
"It's so convenient that we have this in public spaces. We won't have to line up at pharmacies any more; when the time comes, we just put our card in (to these machines)," said a housewife in her 40s, who gave her name only as Ms Cheng. She was at the Xinyi District Health Centre with her husband on Monday to collect her fortnightly allotment of masks.
The vending machines are part of a bid by the authorities in Taiwan to reduce face-to-face contact and make surgical masks more accessible to the public while sticking to the rationing policy on the island.
Each Taiwanese resident with a National Health Insurance (NHI) card is allowed to buy a set of nine masks every two weeks from pharmacies or through the NHI app, and the same quota applies to the vending machines.
Unveiled by the Taipei City Government and the Central Epidemic Command Centre (CECC) on Saturday for a week-long trial run, the three machines installed near Taipei 101 were modified by manufacturers from those that dispense candy and SIM cards.
"We're hoping to remove the risks of human interaction that happens when one buys masks from pharmacies," Mr Lu Hsin-ke, commissioner of the Taipei City Government's Department of Information Technology, told The Straits Times. His department worked closely with the CECC to make sure the database of the NHI system, which tracks each citizen's health records, and mask-buying as well as travel history, will be in the vending machines.
Just like buying state-issued masks from pharmacies, customers must provide their NHI card, which the machine can scan for mask-purchase records.
Each pharmacy gets a daily quota of 200 sets of masks to sell to the public, and every machine has 300 to dispense daily but will be refilled if the daily stock runs out early.
The machines do not accept cash; buyers can tap their EasyCard - Taiwan's stored-value card for public transportation and convenience stores - or use credit cards or payment apps.
"Once the week-long trial is over and some technical issues perfected, the city government is planning to install mask vending machines in all 12 administrative districts across Taipei," said Mr Lu, who added that the CECC is planning a similar roll-out in other cities and counties in Taiwan.
