A national inoculation program against A(H1N1) influenza, commonly known as swine flu, was launched yesterday, targeting the entire population in an effort to stem the spread of the virus in the country.
The Department of Health (DOH) has set up free vaccination stations at all public health centers, DOH-run and DOH-contracted hospitals, and in department stores, hypermarkets, railway stations and temples around Taiwan.
Deputy Minister of Health Chang Shan-chwen (張上淳), while on a visit to Taoyuan County earlier in the day to inspect the inoculation operations there, called on the public to get vaccinated against the H1N1 virus.
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE TAIPEI PHOTOJOURNALISTS ASSOCIATION
Taipei County health officials said the public is responding well to the initiative, judging from the fact that more than 400 people were waiting at the Banciao (板橋) public health center yesterday morning to receive vaccinations. The population of Taipei County is more than 3.8 million people, the largest administrative region in Taiwan.
In Kaohsiung City, health workers encouraged people to get the shots by giving away free cabbage, towels and stationery.
Statistics from the Central Epidemics Command Center (CECC) showed that as of Friday, more than 3.2 million people, or 14 percent of the country’s population, had been inoculated against swine flu, adding that as of 5pm, 500,000 people had also been inoculated yesterday alone.
Among the 12 groups prioritized in the national immunization program that began on Nov. 1, elementary school students had the highest rate of vaccination at 75 percent, followed by medical and health care personnel at 70 percent. The lowest rate was recorded among pregnant women, at 8 percent, the CECC statistics show.
Centers for Disease Control Deputy Director-General Chou Jih-haw (周志浩) said the low rate of A(H1N1) immunization among the 200,000 pregnant women in the country may be linked to two stillbirth cases.
“Although it has not been confirmed that the stillbirths resulted from the vaccine, the inoculation rate among pregnant women remains low,” he said.
Meanwhile, DOH Minister Yaung Chih-liang (楊志良) yesterday hit back at the host of a political TV show for criticizing the quality of A (H1N1) influenza vaccines produced by local manufacturer Adimmune Corp (國光生技).
Citing reported problems and side effects associated with the vaccine including deaths among elderly people and dizziness among students, which have led some people to avoid getting vaccinated, the show host Cheng Hung-yi (鄭弘儀) asked: “Who will take the responsibility if something goes wrong after taking these vaccines?”
Yaung said that such an issue should be discussed by health workers and “not random TV talk show guests or hosts.” He added that he had written a letter of complaint to Cheng on Friday.
DOH officials said the reports of dizziness had scared some parents, who withdrew permission for their children to receive the shots. One of the concerned parents, Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chen Ying (陳瑩) said she would wait until the vaccine is proven safe before allowing her children to be inoculated.
National Taiwan University Hospital physician Yao Chien-an (姚建安) in the family medicine department, however, said he is trying to persuade reluctant people to get the shots because one vaccinated person could help prevent the infection of many others.
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