About 450,000 doses of Moderna’s COVID-19 bivalent vaccine have been administered, and as eligibility was expanded yesterday, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said that it might order more if many people are willing to receive the jab.
Moderna’s bivalent vaccine targets the original SARS-CoV-2 strain as well as the Omicron BA.1 subvariant.
Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥), the CECC’s spokesman, said that 1,319 children aged six months to four years received a COVID-19 vaccine dose on Monday, bringing the age group’s first and second-dose vaccination rates to 40.8 percent and 11.9 percent respectively.
Photo: Tsai Shu-yuan, Taipei Times
He said 11,163 people received Moderna’s bivalent booster on Sunday, taking the total number of doses administered to more than 449,000 doses.
Eligibility for the bivalent vaccine was expanded to include people aged 18 to 49 who received their last dose of a COVID-19 vaccine at least three months (84 days) ago.
Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝), who heads the CECC, said there are still about 2.55 million doses of the bivalent vaccine in stock.
After eligibility is expanded, the center would observe people’s willingness to get vaccinated and decide whether to order more doses, Wang said.
Asked if people aged 18 to 49 can get a second booster shot that is not a bivalent COVID-19 vaccine, Chuang said that the center has been collecting data on other countries’ vaccination policies, but they have different recommendations.
The data were yesterday to be delivered to the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) for review, and the CECC would announce its decision as soon as the committee makes a recommendation, he said.
On Friday last week, a meeting was held at the Ministry of Health and Welfare to discuss a proposal to expand eligibility for a government-funded prescription of Chingguan Yihau (清冠一號), or NRICM101, a traditional herbal formula used to treat COVID-19 that was developed in Taiwan.
The ministry on Sept. 15 reduced the number of groups eligible for the prescription.
CDC Deputy Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞) yesterday said that those at the meeting had come to a preliminary conclusion: Eligibility should be expanded to include COVID-19 patients with any of four conditions.
They include postpartum women whose health has been assessed by a traditional Chinese medicine doctor, and people with mild symptoms and one of the following risk factors: unstable hypertension, peptic ulcer hemorrhaging or mental illness, he said.
Required procedures are in progress, so the exact date of implementation is unclear, but the center would try to resolve the issue as soon as possible, Lo said.
Chinese spouse and influencer Guan Guan’s (關關) residency permit has been revoked for repeatedly posting pro-China videos that threaten national security, the National Immigration Agency confirmed today. Guan Guan has said many controversial statements in her videos posted to Douyin (抖音), including “the red flag will soon be painted all over Taiwan” and “Taiwan is an inseparable part of China,” and expressing hope for expedited reunification. The agency last year received multiple reports alleging that Guan Guan had advocated for armed reunification. After verifying the reports, the agency last month issued a notice requiring her to appear and explain her actions. Guan
GIVE AND TAKE: Blood demand continues to rise each year, while fewer young donors are available due to the nation’s falling birthrate, a doctor said Blood donors can redeem points earned from donations to obtain limited edition Formosan black bear travel mugs, the Kaohsiung Blood Center said yesterday, as it announced a goal of stocking 20,000 units of blood prior to the Lunar New Year. The last month of the lunar year is National Blood Donation Month, when local centers seek to stockpile blood for use during the Lunar New Year holiday. The blood demand in southern Taiwan — including Tainan and Kaohsiung, as well as Chiayi, Pingtung, Penghu and Taitung counties — is about 2,000 units per day, the center said. The donation campaign aims to boost
The Kaohsiung Tourism Bureau audited six hotels in an effort to prevent price gouging ahead of Korean band BTS’ concert tour in the city scheduled for Nov. 19, 21 and 22 this year. The bureau on Friday said that the audits — conducted in response to allegations of unfair pricing posted on social media — found no wrongdoing. These establishments included the local branches of Chateau de Chine, Hotel Nikko, My Humble House, and Grand Hai Lai, it said, adding that the Consumer Protection Commission would have penalized price gougers had the accusations been substantiated. The bureau said the Tourism Development Act
The military yesterday said it has located the flight data recorder, or black box, of an F-16V jet that disappeared off eastern Taiwan earlier this month, and it would soon deploy a salvage team to try to retrieve it. Air Force Command Headquarters said that while it had pinned down the location of the black box, it was still searching for the aircraft’s sole pilot, air force Captain Hsin Po-yi (辛柏毅). Without providing details, the air force said it had located the black box days after detecting some intermittent signals and would now engage a team of professionals to retrieve it. The air
RSS