Government-funded influenza vaccinations became available yesterday across the nation.
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said the vaccine for this year’s flu season is a trivalent vaccine that protects against the influenza A (H1N1) strain, the influenza A (H3N2) strain and a Victoria lineage influenza B strain.
About 6 million vaccines were purchased this year, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Lu Pau-ching (呂寶靜) said yesterday, adding that the vaccines are expected to cover about one-fourth of the population.
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Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
Influenza activity usually increases in November each year, with the season peaking around the Lunar New Year holiday of the following year, so the ministry encourages people to get vaccinated before the peak period, she said.
The effectiveness of the vaccine ranges from 70 to 90 percent in most adults and, in elderly people infected with the flu, it can reduce the risk of developing complications by 50 to 60 percent and death by 80 percent, Lu said.
From 2015 to last year, more than 90 percent of people who had serious flu complications and 87 percent of the deaths from serious complications had not gotten vaccinated, Taipei Department of Health Commissioner Huang Shier-chieg (黃世傑) said.
Photo: CNA
Antibodies develop in the body about two weeks after vaccination, so people eligible for the government-funded shots should get one as soon as possible, he added.
CDC Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥) said that people with egg allergies can get vaccinated starting this year, as studies suggest that flu vaccines are safe for those with the condition and rarely cause allergic reactions.
The centers still advise those with egg allergies to tell the doctor giving them the vaccine about prior allergic reactions and to watch for any reaction for about 30 minutes after vaccination, he said.
The centers said that winter and spring are also a peak period for invasive pneumococcal disease, so people older than 75 who have never received the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV13), are advised to get a government-funded PCV13 shot in one arm and a flu shot in the other.
Huang said that Taipei residents aged 65 to 74 are also eligible for PCV13 shots funded by the city government.
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