More than 1.1 million people were inoculated following the launch of the annual free influenza vaccination program at hospitals and medical facilities across the nation, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said on Sunday.
As of Saturday, 1,104,214 of 6.98 million free vaccination shots had been administered — 107,683 more than the 996,531 administered during the same period last year, CDC Deputy Director-General Tseng Shu-hui (曾淑惠) said.
As flu case numbers historically increase in November, peaking over the winter before declining in March, the government provides free flu jabs in October as the vaccines do not take effect until after about two weeks, Tseng said.
Photo: Lai Hsiao-tung, Taipei Times
People who qualify for the free inoculations should get the shots as soon as possible, he added.
The vaccination program is being implemented in two phases: It started with children aged six months to high-school level; people aged 65 or older; medical workers; people with high-risk, chronic, rare or serious diseases or severe injuries; pregnant women; parents of babies aged six months of younger; and employees at preschools and childcare centers.
In this first phase, the free vaccines would also be available to nursing home residents and workers, medical and public health personnel, people working in the poultry or livestock sector, and animal quarantine personnel.
When the second-phase rollout begins on Nov. 1, people aged 50 to 64 would be eligible to receive a free shot, the CDC said.
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Almost a quarter of volunteer soldiers who signed up from 2021 to last year have sought early discharge, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said in a report. The report said that 12,884 of 52,674 people who volunteered in the period had sought an early exit from the military, returning NT$895.96 million (US$28.86 million) to the government. In 2021, there was a 105.34 percent rise in the volunteer recruitment rate, but the number has steadily declined since then, missing recruitment targets, the Chinese-language United Daily News said, citing the report. In 2021, only 521 volunteers dropped out of the military, the report said, citing
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