Taiwan expects to receive 2 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine by the end of June to help battle the latest wave of domestic infections, the island’s health minister Chen Shih-chung said on Tuesday.

Officials would announce details of a mass inoculation program for its residents on Wednesday, said Chen, who heads the Central Epidemic Command Center.

Taiwan reported 327 new domestic cases, including 262 newly confirmed cases and 65 backdated cases on Tuesday. There were also five imported cases and 13 deaths. The number of new infections has fallen from a recent high of 670 recorded last Thursday.

Despite signs of a slowdown in the latest outbreak, major cities on Tuesday launched a new measure to reduce public gatherings. Residents were required to go out shopping on alternate days based on their identity card numbers.

In the northeastern port city of Keelung, some residents complained about being turned away from markets for failing to bring their ID cards. Some were also denied entry because their ID numbers ended with an odd digit, Apple Daily reporters found.

People with an odd number at the end of their ID cards were permitted to shop on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday under the directive.

Visitors to a market in the southern city of Kaohsiung were required to show their ID cards and scan a QR code at its entrance.

Nantou county in central Taiwan has not introduced the measure, but encouraged its residents to go out on alternate days on a voluntary basis.

Meanwhile, Citibank Taiwan on Tuesday announced that five of its branches on the island would close two hours earlier than usual as part of pandemic controls.

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