The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) yesterday agreed to a mix-and-match approach for COVID-19 vaccines, and approved the inclusion of Medigen Vaccine Biologics Corp’s (高端疫苗) COVID-19 vaccine in the national vaccination program.
Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC), said it was agreed at an ACIP meeting yesterday morning that a mix-and-match approach was acceptable for people receiving two doses of COVID-19 vaccines.
Most people in the first three COVID-19 vaccination priority groups have received a first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine, Chen said.
Photo: Huang Shu-li, Taipei Times
Specialists in the committee said people in those groups should be allowed to receive a mRNA vaccine for their second dose, at least eight weeks after their first dose, he said.
However, to keep the vaccination policy consistent, the center would arrange for the second dose of the mix-and-match regimen to be administered 10 to 12 weeks after the first dose, he said.
Asked when the mix-and-match vaccination strategy would be implemented, Chen said that a date has not yet been set, as the ACIP’s decision was only reached at noon yesterday.
The CECC must still discuss plans for the strategy’s implementation, as well as modify the online vaccination booking system to allow for the mixing of doses, Chen said.
The ACIP also approved the domestic Medigen vaccine for inclusion in the national vaccination program, he said.
Regarding rollout of the Medigen vaccine, Chen said the CECC would need to meet with the vaccine maker to confirm its supply plan and schedule.
Medigen obtained Emergency Use Authorization for its vaccine from the Food and Drug Administration on Monday last week, the first local vaccine maker to do so.
The administration based its decision on data Medigen obtained in a phase 2 clinical trial involving about 4,000 participants earlier this year, which was analyzed using immunobridging and compared to a control group of 200 AstraZeneca vaccine recipients in Taoyuan.
Medigen has said it has permission to conduct a phase 3 clinical trial among 1,000 people in Paraguay.
Additional reporting by CNA
MORE VISITORS: The Tourism Administration said that it is seeing positive prospects in its efforts to expand the tourism market in North America and Europe Taiwan has been ranked as the cheapest place in the world to travel to this year, based on a list recommended by NerdWallet. The San Francisco-based personal finance company said that Taiwan topped the list of 16 nations it chose for budget travelers because US tourists do not need visas and travelers can easily have a good meal for less than US$10. A bus ride in Taipei costs just under US$0.50, while subway rides start at US$0.60, the firm said, adding that public transportation in Taiwan is easy to navigate. The firm also called Taiwan a “food lover’s paradise,” citing inexpensive breakfast stalls
US PUBLICATION: The results indicated a change in attitude after a 2023 survey showed 55 percent supported full-scale war to achieve unification, the report said More than half of Chinese were against the use of force to unify with Taiwan under any circumstances, a survey conducted by the Atlanta, Georgia-based Carter Center and Emory University found. The survey results, which were released on Wednesday in a report titled “Sovereignty, Security, & US-China Relations: Chinese Public Opinion,” showed that 55.1 percent of respondents agreed or somewhat agreed that “the Taiwan problem should not be resolved using force under any circumstances,” while 24.5 percent “strongly” or “somewhat” disagreed with the statement. The results indicated a change in attitude after a survey published in “Assessing Public Support for (Non)Peaceful Unification
The CIA has a message for Chinese government officials worried about their place in Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) government: Come work with us. The agency released two Mandarin-language videos on social media on Thursday inviting disgruntled officials to contact the CIA. The recruitment videos posted on YouTube and X racked up more than 5 million views combined in their first day. The outreach comes as CIA Director John Ratcliffe has vowed to boost the agency’s use of intelligence from human sources and its focus on China, which has recently targeted US officials with its own espionage operations. The videos are “aimed at
Four former Hong Kong opposition lawmakers jailed in the territory’s largest national security case were released yesterday after more than four years in prison, the first among dozens convicted last year to regain their freedom. Former legislators Claudia Mo (毛孟靜), Jeremy Tam (譚文豪), Kwok Ka-ki (郭家麒) and Gary Fan (范國威) were part of a group of 47 public figures — including some of Hong Kong’s best-known democracy advocates — who were charged with subversion in 2021 for holding an informal primary election. The case fell under a National Security Law imposed on the territory by Beijng, and drew international condemnation and warnings
RSS