The Department of Health yesterday said only a little more than half of the nation’s pneumonia vaccine stocks have been administered so far this year and urged the elderly and parents of young children to take advantage of a nationwide vaccination program.
Releasing statistics to coincide with World Pneumonia Day yesterday, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said 2 million children worldwide under the age of five die of pneumonia every year. It encouraged those most at risk to use the free Streptococcus pneumoniae vaccine, as vaccination remains one of the most effective ways to protect against the virus.
The CDC estimates that about 85,000 senior citizens seek treatment for pneumonia every year, with 6,000 -pneumonia--related deaths in Taiwan annually.
Streptococcus pneumoniae, the bacteria targeted by the vaccine, is the leading cause of fatalities from pneumonia, accounting for 30 percent of deaths.
As temperatures continue to drop over the coming weeks, people who develop pneumonia or complications from seasonal flu are at a higher risk of severe illness or even death, CDC Deputy Director Lin Ting (林頂) said.
The CDC has prepared 82,000 doses of the vaccine this year, of which only 59,000 have been administered since the inoculation program began on Oct. 1.
The shots are free for seniors over the age of 75 and children under the age of five with immunodeficiency or other serious illnesses. Children living in poverty or in locations with scarce medical resources are also eligible for government subsidies.
The pneumonia vaccine can be taken along with government-funded seasonal flu vaccines, which are also available free of charge for children, seniors and adults in certain groups considered to be at a higher risk of contracting the flu virus.
The CDC advises taking one vaccine shot in each arm and to be inoculated as soon as possible, because the body only develops immunity about two weeks after vaccination.
The US-Japan joint statement released on Friday not mentioning the “one China” policy might be a sign that US President Donald Trump intends to decouple US-China relations from Taiwan, a Taiwanese academic said. Following Trump’s meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Friday, the US and Japan issued a joint statement where they reaffirmed the importance of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and support for Taiwan’s meaningful participation in international organizations. Trump has not personally brought up the “one China” policy in more than a year, National Taiwan University Department of Political Science Associate Professor Chen Shih-min (陳世民)
‘NEVER!’ Taiwan FactCheck Center said it had only received donations from the Open Society Foundations, which supports nonprofits that promote democratic values Taiwan FactCheck Center (TFC) has never received any donation from the US Agency for International Development (USAID), a cofounder of the organization wrote on his Facebook page on Sunday. The Taipei-based organization was established in 2018 by Taiwan Media Watch Foundation and the Association of Quality Journalism to monitor and verify news and information accuracy. It was officially registered as a foundation in 2021. National Chung Cheng University communications professor Lo Shih-hung (羅世宏), a cofounder and chairman of TFC, was responding to online rumors that the TFC receives funding from the US government’s humanitarian assistance agency via the Open Society Foundations (OSF),
ANNUAL LIGHT SHOW: The lanterns are exhibited near Taoyuan’s high-speed rail station and around the Taoyuan Sports Park Station of the airport MRT line More than 400 lanterns are to be on display at the annual Taiwan Lantern Festival, which officially starts in Taoyuan today. The city is hosting the festival for the second time — the first time was in 2016. The Tourism Administration held a rehearsal of the festival last night. Chunghwa Telecom donated the main lantern of the festival to the Taoyuan City Government. The lanterns are exhibited in two main areas: near the high-speed rail (HSR) station in Taoyuan, which is at the A18 station of the Taoyuan Airport MRT, and around the Taoyuan Sports Park Station of the MRT
An alleged US government plan to encourage Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) to form a joint venture with Intel to boost US chipmaking would place the Taiwanese foundry giant in a more disadvantageous position than proposed tariffs on imported chips, a semiconductor expert said yesterday. If TSMC forms a joint venture with its US rival, it faces the risk of technology outflow, said Liu Pei-chen (劉佩真), a researcher at the Taiwan Industry Economics Database of the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research. A report by international financial services firm Baird said that Asia semiconductor supply chain talks suggest that the US government would