The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday issued an emergency call to stop issuing a flu vaccine in seven counties and cities after the Taipei Department of Health on Wednesday reported a discolored dose.
The suspension affects the Vaxigrip brand of trivalent flu vaccine manufactured by Lyon, France-based Sanofi Pasteur of the same lot number, the CDC said.
The government has prepared 6 million doses for this year’s free flu shot program, which hospitals began administering on Oct. 15, the centers said, adding that Vaxigrip is one of the two vaccines it uses.
Photo courtesy of the Centers for Disease Control
The other type, AdimFlu-S, is manufactured by Taiwan-based Adimmune Corp (國光生技), it said.
A Taipei-based medical worker administering flu shots at a mobile vaccination station saw that the vaccine in one of the syringes had a brownish color, while normal vaccines are transparent, the CDC said, adding that the discolored vaccine was not administered.
CDC officials inspected the Vaxigrip stock at its storage facility and did not find any other vaccine with abnormal coloring.
The nation has imported 300,000 Vaxigrip doses, with about 190,000 syringes having already been distributed to health centers in Taipei, New Taipei City, Hsinchu city and county, as well as Taoyuan, Taichung and Miaoli County, while about 100,000 syringes were still in storage, the centers said.
As of yesterday afternoon, more than 32,000 Vaxigrip doses had been administered, it said.
CDC Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥) said this was the first time that the centers had seen discoloration of an influenza vaccine.
The centers would return the discolored vaccine to Sanofi Pasteur for further analysis and all vaccines in the batch are to be placed on hold until the company has finished its probe, Chuang said.
The Food and Drug Administration said it has asked Sanofi Pasteur to report the vaccines as defective and explain the discoloration as soon as possible.
Sanofi Pasteur in a statement said that the discolored sample was being delivered to the company’s headquarters for analysis.
As there are no reports of similar incidents with the company’s other vaccines, Sanofi Pasteur said it was regarding the case as an isolated incident.
NO-LIMITS PARTNERSHIP: ‘The bottom line’ is that if the US were to have a conflict with China or Russia it would likely open up a second front with the other, a US senator said Beijing and Moscow could cooperate in a conflict over Taiwan, the top US intelligence chief told the US Senate this week. “We see China and Russia, for the first time, exercising together in relation to Taiwan and recognizing that this is a place where China definitely wants Russia to be working with them, and we see no reason why they wouldn’t,” US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told a US Senate Committee on Armed Services hearing on Thursday. US Senator Mike Rounds asked Haines about such a potential scenario. He also asked US Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse
NOVEL METHODS: The PLA has adopted new approaches and recently conducted three combat readiness drills at night which included aircraft and ships, an official said Taiwan is monitoring China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) exercises for changes in their size or pattern as the nation prepares for president-elect William Lai’s (賴清德) inauguration on May 20, National Security Bureau (NSB) Director-General Tsai Ming-yen (蔡明彥) said yesterday. Tsai made the comment at a meeting of the Legislative Yuan’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, in response to Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Wang Ting-yu’s (王定宇) questions. China continues to employ a carrot-and-stick approach, in which it applies pressure with “gray zone” tactics, while attempting to entice Taiwanese with perks, Tsai said. These actions aim to help Beijing look like it has
China’s intrusive and territorial claims in the Indo-Pacific region are “illegal, coercive, aggressive and deceptive,” new US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo said on Friday, adding that he would continue working with allies and partners to keep the area free and open. Paparo made the remarks at a change-of-command ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii, where he took over the command from Admiral John Aquilino. “Our world faces a complex problem set in the troubling actions of the People’s Republic of China [PRC] and its rapid buildup of forces. We must be ready to answer the PRC’s increasingly intrusive and
INSPIRING: Taiwan has been a model in the Asia-Pacific region with its democratic transition, free and fair elections and open society, the vice president-elect said Taiwan can play a leadership role in the Asia-Pacific region, vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) told a forum in Taipei yesterday, highlighting the nation’s resilience in the face of geopolitical challenges. “Not only can Taiwan help, but Taiwan can lead ... not only can Taiwan play a leadership role, but Taiwan’s leadership is important to the world,” Hsiao told the annual forum hosted by the Center for Asia-Pacific Resilience and Innovation think tank. Hsiao thanked Taiwan’s international friends for their long-term support, citing the example of US President Joe Biden last month signing into law a bill to provide aid to Taiwan,