The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday urged people to be prepared for this year’s flu season by getting an influenza vaccination from Nov. 11.
Government-funded flu shots are to become available next month, instead of this month, and be divided into three vaccination periods, the centers said.
The first vaccination period, from Nov. 11, is only for medical practitioners and students from elementary school to high school. The second period, from Dec. 8, is for preschoolers and people aged 65 or older. The third period, from Jan. 1, is for the rest of those eligible for government-funded flu shots.
The WHO’s recommendation for what flu viruses to include in this year’s vaccines for the Northern Hemisphere was a month late, causing a delay in the vaccines’ manufacturing and distribution, CDC Director-General Chou Jih-haw (周志浩) said.
The government’s order of 6.08 million vaccines was delayed by about a month, but batches have started to arrive in Taiwan, allowing the first vaccination period to start next month, he said.
Although a trivalent vaccine was used last year, a quadrivalent vaccine is to be used during this year’s flu season, Chou said.
The WHO’s recommendation for the composition of flu vaccinations each year resembles bidding and the main circulating virus is not always one of the viruses included in the vaccine, but getting vaccinated is still important, said Huang Li-min (黃立民), director of National Taiwan University Hospital’s Department of Pediatrics.
People should take preventive measures, such as wearing a surgical mask in crowded public spaces, and frequently and thoroughly washing their hands, he said.
People at higher risk of pneumonia caused by the Streptococcus pneumoniae bacterium should get a pneumococcal vaccine first, so they are less likely to get pneumonia from the flu, Huang said.
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