To cope with the overlap of COVID-19 and influenza, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) on Oct. 1 launched a government-funded flu vaccination program. For the first phase, parents of children under the age of six months are eligible, as are healthcare workers at preschools, childcare centers and institutes.
However, providers of family childcare services are not eligible.
Just like healthcare workers employed by registered institutes, home-based childcare providers — commonly referred to as “nannies” — are professional caregivers. Both groups work with parents to take care of children, who are more susceptible to viruses. It is therefore important to have the little ones vaccinated, but at the same time, vaccine efficacy and effectiveness in adults cannot be emphasized enough.
Not until adults are well protected can they provide proper, uninterrupted care. Professional caregivers should be vaccinated along with parents, not after.
While nursery service centers or public nursery homes play a role in childcare services, the majority of young children in Taiwan are looked after by nannies. About 27,000 nannies provide childcare services for more than 40,000 children, with about 30,000 of them under the age of two. Yet, in the CECC’s vaccination program, nannies are discriminated against, which would almost certainly affect parents who have nannies to look after their children.
It might cause a breach in the wall of disease prevention for COVID-19 and influenza.
Home-based childcare providers are indispensable to Taiwan’s childcare industry and family support. Nannies offer tremendous help to parents in dual-income households, attending to the needs of children as they grow up. Nannies make a great contribution and yet they are often neglected, becoming the Cinderella of Taiwan’s policies.
The government should include providers of family childcare services in the first phase of the government-funded flu vaccination program. To increase vaccine efficacy and effectiveness nationwide, and to make sure children receive full care, nannies must not be excluded.
Li Ting-hsin is a research specialist with the Peng Wan-ru Foundation.
Translated by Liu Yi-hung
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