The number of cases of COVID-19 in Taiwan has been rising for seven consecutive weeks, with the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) on Tuesday last week reporting that weekly hospital visits for the disease surged 113 percent in the previous week. The new wave of infections is likely to peak about the end of this month, it said. On Wednesday, CDC Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥) reported to the legislature that weekly cases might rise to 200,000 during the peak period, with 1.7 million cases in total by early August.
Global COVID-19 activity has been increasing since mid-February, with the test positivity rate reaching 11 percent — a level that has not been observed since July last year, a WHO report released last week showed. That rise is primarily in a few regions, including the Western Pacific, it said.
The CDC has encouraged people to wear masks when visiting healthcare facilities or care centers, traveling on public transportation and visiting crowded indoor venues, and urged people with respiratory symptoms to minimize unnecessary outings, to reduce the risk of spreading or contracting the virus. Wearing a mask is especially important for older adults and those with weakened immune systems or chronic medical conditions, who are also advised to stay up to date on their COVID-19 vaccinations to reduce the risk of developing severe complications from infection, it said.
Although government data showed a rise in vaccine uptake in the past week, conflicting messages have sown confusion, such as US Secretary of Health Robert F. Kennedy Jr, a prominent vaccine skeptic, announcing that the US CDC would no longer recommend that healthy children and pregnant women receive a COVID-19 vaccine. His directive skipped the traditional decisionmaking process of independent experts voting in the US Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices (ACIP), raising concerns among healthcare providers, US media reported.
In response to the US COVID-19 vaccine policy, Minister of Health and Welfare Chiu Tai-yuan (邱泰源) and CDC officials on Wednesday told the legislature that the independent experts on the ministry’s ACIP would discuss the eligibility of government-funded vaccination for the autumn-winter season this month.
Taiwan Counter Contagious Diseases Society chairman Wang Jen-hsien (王任賢) on Thursday told a Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) news conference that the public has already received enough vaccine shots, adding that the numbers of severe COVID-19 cases and deaths were exaggerated, and mild COVID-19 cases should not have access to antiviral drugs. The next day, CDC Deputy Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞) disputed Wang’s claims, describing his statements as “a dangerous suggestion” that is totally different from health experts’ and might also “mislead the public and harm their health.” Studies have proven that getting updated booster shots can effectively reduce the risk of hospitalization, severe illness and death, particularly for older adults, Lo said. He added that Wang’s speculations were “preposterous and misleading,” as case numbers were reported by hospitals according to the law, and infected people in high-risk groups with mild symptoms are still eligible for COVID-19 antiviral drugs.
The CDC and most health experts have been careful to base their health suggestions on scientific evidence, but their efforts can easily be undermined by deliberate political interference or misinformation, such as KMT claims that the government “blocked” vaccine imports and “hid” information from the public during the pandemic and elections. Wang’s suggestion was also dangerous, as it did not consider the different health risks among individuals. The irresponsible politicization of public health issues erodes public trust in science and healthcare professionals, potentially rendering public health policies less effective, and putting people’s health and lives at risk.
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