Locally produced swine flu vaccines are being tested on animals, with human trials to begin in October, the local firm Adimmune Corp said yesterday.
Adimmune won a tender held by the Department of Health (DOH) last month to become the nation’s only supplier of vaccine against A(H1N1).
“Those who receive the first injection will have to receive a second inoculation three weeks later because foreign medical data show that humans need two doses of vaccine to produce antibodies,” an Adimmune Corp spokesman said.
National Taiwan University Medical College professor Huang Li-ming (黃立民) will preside over the trial project, he said.
DOH Minister Yeh Ching-chuan (葉金川) said on Friday that research on the swine flu vaccine was proceeding smoothly and the producer promised to deliver the product at the end of next month.
“Because the vaccine has to undergo clinical trials, it will not be ready for distribution until November at the earliest,” Yeh said.
Yeh said the department planned to purchase up to 10 million doses of swine flu vaccine to meet domestic demand.
It has already ordered 5 million doses of vaccine from the company, in which the government has a stake.
“Because Adimmune can only provide 5 million doses, we still have to seek foreign supplies to make up for the deficiency and we hope potential foreign suppliers will be able to deliver the vaccines ahead of Adimmune,” he said.
The nation on Thursday confirmed its first swine flu fatality.
Virus clusters and community infections are growing, with the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday confirming another two cluster infections of A(H1N1) influenza, and one other case in the process of verification.
One of them was a high school in the Taipei area.
A total of 22 students came down with flu symptoms on Wednesday, CDC spokesman Lin Ting (林頂) said.
The CDC collected virus samples from five students, four of whom were confirmed to be infected with swine flu yesterday.
The other confirmed case was at a junior high school in the Chiayi area, Lin said.
A total of 17 students began to show flu symptoms on July 29. Of the virus samples from eight students, four were confirmed as swine flu yesterday.
“The two schools will be temporarily closed for the following four days,” Lin said.
As for the unconfirmed case, Lin said it was a high school in the Chiayi area where a total of 34 students began to show signs of fever. CDC officials were still verifying the case as of press time yesterday.
Lin urged school authorities to contact local health departments or the CDC immediately if students are discovered to have flu symptoms.
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