The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday reported the nation’s first case of a person developing facial palsy after receiving an AstraZeneca jab against COVID-19 on Wednesday.
It was not a self-paid vaccine and the clinic where the man received the shot is closely following the case, said Centers for Disease Control Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥), who is the CECC spokesman.
Citing insurance data, Chuang said that the rate of facial palsy occurring in individuals aged 18 to 49 was 55.31 per 100,000 per year.
Photo: Yang Yuan-ting, Taipei Times
People might experience facial palsy for reasons other than vaccinations, Chuang said.
Preliminary information obtained by the CECC showed that there have been similar side effects in the UK following vaccination, whether it was an AstraZeneca or Pfizer-BioNTech jab, Chuang said.
Since Taiwan started its vaccination program on March 22, a total of 36,731 doses had been administered, with 219 reports of adverse events, but only two have filed for compensation.
Only 20 incidents are considered to be severe adverse effects, the CECC said.
As the patients who have filed for compensation are still in hospital, the CECC is waiting for the latest report on their status, Chuang said.
The CECC estimates that the review process for compensation would be arduous and could take up to six months, as COVID-19 vaccines are relatively new and most of the research relies on foreign documentation, he said.
People can contact their local health agency to ask about compensatory measures if they think that their physical discomfort is caused by the inoculation, he said.
All individuals are eligible to file for compensation, whether the jab was paid for out of pocket or by the government, so long as the vaccine was approved by the Food and Drug Administration, he said.
Once the review process is completed, the Ministry of Health and Welfare would issue an official notice and, if the application is approved, the local health agency would dispense the funds, he said.
If the application is rejected, people can mail an appeal to the ministry within 30 days upon receipt of the official notice, he said.
The CECC also reported four new confirmed cases of COVID-19 — two from the Philippines and one each from Indonesia and Kazakhstan.
As of yesterday, Taiwan had recorded 1,086 COVID-19 cases, including 11 deaths.
Separately, Academia Sinica President James Liao (廖俊智) told a meeting of the legislature’s Education and Culture Committee that he was willing to receive a shot of the AstraZeneca vaccine and that he was waiting for a notice from the health ministry.
Liao was at the meeting to report on the nation’s top research institute, when he asked by a legislator whether he was willing to get inoculated.
Side effects or adverse reactions are likely whether one receives a vaccine shot or takes medication, he said, adding that after assessing the risks, he is willing to be inoculated against COVID-19.
Later yesterday, Academia Sinica issued a notice saying that Liao would receive his vaccine shot at the Taipei City Hospital’s branch in Nangang District (南港) today.
Thirty-five earthquakes have exceeded 5.5 on the Richter scale so far this year, the most in 14 years, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said on Facebook on Thursday. A large earthquake in Hualien County on April 3 released five times as much the energy as the 921 Earthquake on Sept. 21, 1999, the agency said in its latest earthquake report for this year. Hualien County has had the most national earthquake alerts so far this year at 64, with Yilan County second with 23 and Changhua County third with nine, the agency said. The April 3 earthquake was what caused the increase in
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is unlikely to attempt an invasion of Taiwan during US president-elect Donald Trump’s time in office, Taiwanese and foreign academics said on Friday. Trump is set to begin his second term early next year. Xi’s ambition to establish China as a “true world power” has intensified over the years, but he would not initiate an invasion of Taiwan “in the near future,” as his top priority is to maintain the regime and his power, not unification, Tokyo Woman’s Christian University distinguished visiting professor and contemporary Chinese politics expert Akio Takahara said. Takahara made the comment at a
DEFENSE: This month’s shipment of 38 modern M1A2T tanks would begin to replace the US-made M60A3 and indigenous CM11 tanks, whose designs date to the 1980s The M1A2T tanks that Taiwan expects to take delivery of later this month are to spark a “qualitative leap” in the operational capabilities of the nation’s armored forces, a retired general told the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) in an interview published yesterday. On Tuesday, the army in a statement said it anticipates receiving the first batch of 38 M1A2T Abrams main battle tanks from the US, out of 108 tanks ordered, in the coming weeks. The M1 Abrams main battle tank is a generation ahead of the Taiwanese army’s US-made M60A3 and indigenously developed CM11 tanks, which have
CASE COUNT: The deceased had advised law enforcement agencies regarding 60 fraud cases this year, leading to the confiscation of NT$9.3 billion in alleged illegal proceeds Prosecutors yesterday launched an investigation into the death of cryptocurrency expert Miffy Chen (陳梅慧), who died in a car crash on Wednesday under what some consider to be suspicious circumstances following her work with law enforcement to track down NT$9.3 billion (US$286.97 million) in alleged illegal proceeds. Prosecutor-General Hsing Tai-chao (邢泰釗) tasked the Hsinchu District Prosecutors’ Office with investigating the incident following requests from the Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) and other agencies with which she worked to crack several prominent cases involving financial fraud and money laundering. Chen was killed in a six-car pileup near Hsinchu in the northbound lanes of Sun
RSS