The benefits of COVID-19 vaccines outweigh the risks for children between six months and five years old, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said yesterday, as it also announced that the first Novavax vaccine shipment is to arrive today.
Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center, said the first shipment of the Moderna vaccine for young children was to arrive this morning, but due to minor document issues, delivery has been slightly postponed.
Lee Ping-ing (李秉穎), convener of the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), told the CECC’s daily news briefing about the commission’s approval of the COVID-19 vaccine for children aged six months to five years.
Photo: Chou Hsiang-yun, Taipei Times
Although vaccine approval for children can differ by country, epidemiological data suggest that the risk from COVID-19 infection in young children — such as multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) infection-induced encephalitis — is higher than the seasonal flu, Lee said.
Vaccination is still effective for reducing the risk of severe illness or death after COVID-19 infection, he added.
The recommended dosage is a two-dose primary series — 0.25mL per dose (50 micrograms of mRNA) — administered at least four to eight weeks apart, he said, adding that children who have contracted COVID-19 should get vaccinated at least three months after the onset of symptoms or the date of diagnosis.
The recommended site of vaccination for children under the age of two is in the vastus lateralis muscle of the anterolateral thigh, while the deltoid muscle in the upper arm of the non-dominant hand is recommended for children over the age of two, he said.
Common side effects of vaccination are crying, restlessness, pain at the infection site, sleepiness, fever, and a rash or swelling at the vaccination site, Lee said, adding that the side effects are generally milder for children than for adults.
However, if children following vaccination have a fever for more than 48 hours, or develop a serious allergic reaction — such as difficulty breathing, shortness of breath, dizziness, a rapid heartbeat, a rash over the entire body — they should see a doctor so that the cause can be determined, he added.
Myocarditis and pericarditis are serious, but very rare side effects after receiving an mRNA vaccine, especially among adolescent males, Lee said, adding that while the risk in children under the age of five is lower than in adolescents, parents should still watch for symptoms.
If symptoms — such as chest pain, chest tightness or discomfort, heart palpitations, decreased exercise tolerance, fainting or shortness of breath — develop within 28 days after vaccination, medical attention should be sought immediately, he said.
However, as young children might have trouble verbalizing discomfort, parents should also watch out for symptoms such as vomiting, a pale face, cold sweats, loss of appetite or fatigue, which can be caused by reduced blood pressure, Lee added.
The CECC and local governments are establishing vaccination sites for young children, Chen said, adding that the center has encouraged sites to be open in the evenings and on weekends, and for vaccinations to be administered at preschools or infant care centers.
The first Novavax vaccine shipment of 504,000 doses is to arrive today, with vaccinations starting on Friday next week or earlier, Chen said.
At its meeting on Monday, the ACIP also recommended that workers at airports, harbors, quarantine facilities and social welfare facilities, as well as airline crew members, receive a second booster shot, with an interval of at least five weeks after the first booster.
This priority group can receive their second booster shot from tomorrow, Chen said yesterday.
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck off the coast of Hualien County in eastern Taiwan at 7pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The epicenter of the temblor was at sea, about 69.9km south of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 30.9km, it said. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The earthquake’s intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was highest in Taitung County’s Changbin Township (長濱), where it measured 5 on Taiwan’s seven-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 4 in Hualien, Nantou, Chiayi, Yunlin, Changhua and Miaoli counties, as well as
Credit departments of farmers’ and fishers’ associations blocked a total of more than NT$180 million (US$6.01 million) from being lost to scams last year, National Police Agency (NPA) data showed. The Agricultural Finance Agency (AFA) said last week that staff of farmers’ and fishers’ associations’ credit departments are required to implement fraud prevention measures when they serve clients at the counter. They would ask clients about personal financial management activities whenever they suspect there might be a fraud situation, and would immediately report the incident to local authorities, which would send police officers to the site to help, it said. NPA data showed
ENERGY RESILIENCE: Although Alaska is open for investments, Taiwan is sourcing its gas from the Middle East, and the sea routes carry risks, Ho Cheng-hui said US government officials’ high-profile reception of a Taiwanese representative at the Alaska Sustainable Energy Conference indicated the emergence of an Indo-Pacific energy resilience alliance, an academic said. Presidential Office Secretary-General Pan Men-an (潘孟安) attended the conference in Alaska on Thursday last week at the invitation of the US government. Pan visited oil and gas facilities with senior US officials, including US Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, US Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy and US Senator Daniel Sullivan. Pan attending the conference on behalf of President William Lai (賴清德) shows a significant elevation in diplomatic representation,
The Taipei City Reserve Command yesterday initiated its first-ever 14-day recall of some of the city’s civilian service reservists, who are to undergo additional training on top of refresher courses. The command said that it rented sites in Neihu District (內湖), including the Taipei Tennis Center, for the duration of the camp to optimize tactical positioning and accommodate the size of the battalion of reservists. A battalion is made up of four companies of more than 200 reservists each, it said. Aside from shooting drills at a range in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), the remainder of the training would be at
RSS