Influenza vaccines match the viruses that are being detected at the moment, but government-funded vaccines are running low, so people at higher risk are advised to get vaccinated as soon as possible, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said on Friday.
From on Oct. 15 to Wednesday, more than 4.62 million government-funded shots had been administered, the centers said.
As about 700,000 vaccines were returned to their manufacturers after some were found to be discolored or contained suspended particles, the CDC is running low.
About 517,000 government-funded vaccines for adults (0.5ml dosage) remained, with stocks in some areas to be depleted before the end of the month, the centers said, adding that there are still about 101,000 vaccines for children between six months and three years old (0.25ml dosage), which is expected to be sufficient.
People who are at risk and eligible are advised to get a shot as early as possible for better protection, CDC Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥) said.
Those planning to get vaccinated can check the vaccination campaign’s Web site at antiflu.cdc.gov.tw to find healthcare facilities that provide the service, Chuang said, but advised people to call clinics in advance to make sure that there are sufficient vaccines available.
CDC disease monitoring data showed that the main circulating virus over the past four weeks has been influenza A (H3N2), which has caused 59 of the 89 serious flu complications confirmed between Oct. 1 and Dec. 1.
Ten flu-related deaths were confirmed over the same period, five of which were caused by the H3N2 strain, the centers said, adding that five cases involved the influenza A (H1N1) strain.
Temperatures have been changing dramatically, and in addition to getting vaccinated, people should practice proper hand hygiene and cough etiquette, the centers said, urging people to avoid crowded places with poor air circulation to prevent infection.
A group of Taiwanese-American and Tibetan-American students at Harvard University on Saturday disrupted Chinese Ambassador to the US Xie Feng’s (謝鋒) speech at the school, accusing him of being responsible for numerous human rights violations. Four students — two Taiwanese Americans and two from Tibet — held up banners inside a conference hall where Xie was delivering a speech at the opening ceremony of the Harvard Kennedy School China Conference 2024. In a video clip provided by the Coalition of Students Resisting the CCP (Chinese Communist Party), Taiwanese-American Cosette Wu (吳亭樺) and Tibetan-American Tsering Yangchen are seen holding banners that together read:
UNAWARE: Many people sit for long hours every day and eat unhealthy foods, putting them at greater risk of developing one of the ‘three highs,’ an expert said More than 30 percent of adults aged 40 or older who underwent a government-funded health exam were unaware they had at least one of the “three highs” — high blood pressure, high blood lipids or high blood sugar, the Health Promotion Administration (HPA) said yesterday. Among adults aged 40 or older who said they did not have any of the “three highs” before taking the health exam, more than 30 percent were found to have at least one of them, Adult Preventive Health Examination Service data from 2022 showed. People with long-term medical conditions such as hypertension or diabetes usually do not
Heat advisories were in effect for nine administrative regions yesterday afternoon as warm southwesterly winds pushed temperatures above 38°C in parts of southern Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 3:30pm yesterday, Tainan’s Yujing District (玉井) had recorded the day’s highest temperature of 39.7°C, though the measurement will not be included in Taiwan’s official heat records since Yujing is an automatic rather than manually operated weather station, the CWA said. Highs recorded in other areas were 38.7°C in Kaohsiung’s Neimen District (內門), 38.2°C in Chiayi City and 38.1°C in Pingtung’s Sandimen Township (三地門), CWA data showed. The spell of scorching
POLICE INVESTIGATING: A man said he quit his job as a nurse at Taipei Tzu Chi Hospital as he had been ‘disgusted’ by the behavior of his colleagues A man yesterday morning wrote online that he had witnessed nurses taking photographs and touching anesthetized patients inappropriately in Taipei Tzu Chi Hospital’s operating theaters. The man surnamed Huang (黃) wrote on the Professional Technology Temple bulletin board that during his six-month stint as a nurse at the hospital, he had seen nurses taking pictures of patients, including of their private parts, after they were anesthetized. Some nurses had also touched patients inappropriately and children were among those photographed, he said. Huang said this “disgusted” him “so much” that “he felt the need to reveal these unethical acts in the operating theater