Four deaths have been reported to the vaccine adverse event reporting system this year, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday, but added that its advisory specialist panel considered the causes to be associated with underlying health conditions, so the government’s flu vaccination program would continue.
CDC Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥) said that an Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices and Vaccine Injury Compensation Program meeting was held on Monday evening to discuss the death of dozens of people in South Korea following the beginning of a seasonal flu vaccination program there.
The meeting also discussed several serious adverse events in people who received flu shots in Taiwan, after the government-funded flu vaccination program began on Oct. 5, he said.
Photo: Hsieh Chieh-yu, Taipei Times
Chuang said 76 claims of flu vaccine adverse events had been reported to the adverse event reporting system as of Monday, including 25 serious cases, 13 of whom involved prolonged hospital stay, life-threatening conditions or death.
The symptoms of the 13 serious cases included myocarditis, cellulitis, shock, difficulty breathing, acute myocardial infraction (heart attack), subarachnoid hemorrhage and acute cerebrovascular event (stroke), the CDC said.
People who claimed to have mild vaccine adverse events reported symptoms including dizziness, a headache, skin rashes, swollen skin and a fever, but the majority of them have recovered, it said.
Among the 13 serious cases, four people have died after receiving a flu shot, CDC physician Tsou Tsung-pei (鄒宗珮) said, adding that they were aged from 62 to 77, and died within three to 10 days after getting vaccinated.
She said three of them had received a flu shot manufactured by French pharmaceutical company Sanofi, but not from the same batch, and one received a shot made by local vaccine maker Adimmune Corp (國光生物科技).
The people were asked in advance if they had experienced serious adverse reactions after receiving a flu shot in the past, and whether they had a fever or a moderate or severe illness that should delay the vaccination, she said.
Tsou said the four died of cardiovascular events, including cerebral hemorrhage and myocardial infarction, and that the advisory specialists considered the events to be more likely caused by the individuals’ underlying health conditions, rather than adverse reactions to the flu vaccination.
Chuang said the specialists at the meeting also suggested that the CDC continue with the flu vaccination program, while closely following up on reported vaccine adverse events.
South Korean authorities have said the deaths there were not linked to flu vaccination and the nation’s vaccination program would continue, he said.
While Singapore has temporarily halted the use of two types of flu vaccines as a precaution, other countries have continued with their flu vaccination programs.
Tsou said the specialists think the benefits of continuing with the flu vaccination program outweigh the risks, as the vaccine adverse event claims were sporadic, not clustered, and the people did not receive vaccines from the same batch or experience similar symptoms.
“China is preparing to invade Taiwan,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an exclusive interview with British media channel Sky News for a special report titled, “Is Taiwan ready for a Chinese invasion?” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today in a statement. The 25-minute-long special report by Helen Ann-Smith released yesterday saw Sky News travel to Penghu, Taoyuan and Taipei to discuss the possibility of a Chinese invasion and how Taiwan is preparing for an attack. The film observed emergency response drills, interviewed baseball fans at the Taipei Dome on their views of US President
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a "tsunami watch" alert after a magnitude 8.7 earthquake struck off the Kamchatka Peninsula in northeastern Russia earlier in the morning. The quake struck off the east coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula at 7:25am (Taiwan time) at a depth of about 19km, the CWA said, citing figures from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. The CWA's Seismological Center said preliminary assessments indicate that a tsunami could reach Taiwan's coastal areas by 1:18pm today. The CWA urged residents along the coast to stay alert and take necessary precautions as waves as high as 1m could hit the southeastern
ECONOMIC BENEFITS: The imports from Belize would replace those from Honduras, whose shrimp exports have dropped 67 percent since cutting ties in 2023 Maintaining ties with Taiwan has economic benefits, Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials said yesterday, citing the approval of frozen whiteleg shrimp imports from Belize by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as an example. The FDA on Wednesday approved the tariff-free imports from Belize after the whiteleg shrimp passed the Systematic Inspection of Imported Food, which would continue to boost mutual trade, the ministry said. Taiwan’s annual consumption of whiteleg shrimps stands at 30,000 tonnes, far exceeding domestic production, the ministry said. Taiwan used to fill the gap by importing shrimps from Honduras, but purchases slumped after Tegucigalpa severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan
The Executive Yuan yesterday approved a southwestern extension of the Sanying MRT Line from New Taipei to Bade District (八德) in Taoyuan, with a goal of starting construction by late 2026. The 4.03-kilometer extension, featuring three new stations, will run from the current terminus at Yingtao Fude Station (LB12) in New Taipei City to Dannan Station (LB14), where it will connect with Taoyuan’s Green Line, New Taipei City Metro Corp said in a statement. This extension will follow the completion of core Sanying Line, a 14.29-kilometer medium-capacity system linking Tucheng (土城), Sansia (三峽)
RSS