Adimmune president Steve Chan (詹啟賢) yesterday vouched for the safety of the locally produced A(H1N1) flu vaccine, saying it met international standards.
Chan said the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) on Friday checked and accepted 5 million doses of the vaccine produced by his company. The company will deliver 1.5 million more doses this month and another 3.5 million next month for a total of 10 million, he said.
Adimmune is the only local supplier of a vaccine against the swine flu.
When asked about the quality of the vaccine, Chan yesterday said his company had presented a report on human trials on children and adults to the Department of Health, but he was not in a position to discuss details before the department does so.
“What I can say now is that in terms of efficiency, it rivals those produced by foreign countries,” he said. “As for its safety, human trials were done with [Taiwanese]. Our body constitution is different from foreigners.”
Chan, who doubles as chairman of the Memorial Foundation of 228, made the remarks before a chat with reporters to discuss the goals of his new job at the foundation.
The A(H1N1) immunization program began on Sunday, but Chan said he did not know the details because the CDC was in charge of it.
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) has said he would be inoculated with the A(H1N1) vaccine produced by Adimmune if it would boost public confidence.
The Presidential Office later said Ma would only receive the local vaccine if the health department concluded that it was necessary.
The health department has a priority list of recipients for the vaccine. Topping the list of priority recipients are victims of Typhoon Morakot, followed by health workers. Next on the list are pregnant women, children aged one to six and patients with severe injuries aged seven and older; children between the ages of seven and 12 and teens between 13 and 15; teens aged between 16 and 18; adults between 19 and 24; adults older than 25 with cardiac problems, liver problems, kidney problems or diabetes; adults between 25 and 49; adults between 50 and 64; and senior citizens 65 and older.
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