A new study suggests that the XBB.1.5-adapted COVID-19 vaccine is effective in protection against mild COVID-19 in people aged 12 years or older, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday.
The centers said the COVID-19 positivity rate is considered low globally, but it is still relatively high in the Asia-Pacific and Southeast Asia, and case numbers are still rising in neighboring countries, including Japan and South Korea.
The JN.1 subvariant, a descendant of BA.2.86, has become the dominant strain around the world, accounting for more than 80 percent of cases, and as COVID-19 activity is increasing in Taiwan, genomic surveillance shows the JN.1 strain was also responsible for 69 percent of the sequenced local cases in the past four weeks, it said.
Photo courtesy of Penghu Hospital
Citing the findings of a study by the Canadian Sentinel Practitioner Surveillance Network (SPSN) released on Thursday, the CDC said the XBB.1.5-adapted vaccine’s effectiveness against COVID-19 was about 50 percent — 47 percent for the vaccine recipients aged between 12 and 64, and 52 percent for recipients aged 65 and older — between Oct. 29 last year and Jan. 13.
The study found that among recipients who reported prior
SARS-CoV-2 infection confirmed through a nucleic acid amplification test or rapid antigen test, the XBB.1.5 vaccine’s effectiveness against COVID-19 was even higher at 67 percent, it said.
The CDC said the study is one of the first that analyzed the XBB.1.5 vaccine’s effectiveness among adolescents in the real world, and it found that it is just as effective as among adult vaccine recipients, reducing the risk of developing mild COVID-19 symptoms.
As schools are beginning the new semester and Lantern Festival activities are expected to draw large crowds, which could increase the risk of spreading COVID-19, the CDC encouraged people to get the XBB.1.5 vaccine for better protection against symptomatic infection.
Since the XBB.1.5 vaccine became locally available on Sept. 26 last year, 97 percent of people who were hospitalized and 98 percent of those who died due to COVID-19 had not gotten the XBB.1.5 vaccine, the centers said.
The CDC said that as of yesterday, more than 1.74 million people had received a XBB.1.5 vaccine, including more than 1.54 million people who received Moderna’s vaccine and more than 226,000 people who received the Novavax vaccine.
Both Moderna’s and Novavax’s vaccines are safe and effective against COVID-19, so people aged 12 and older can choose one of the two brands for their vaccine, while children aged six months to 11 years are only eligible for Moderna’s vaccine, the centers said.
Vaccination-related information and vaccination sites can be found at its official Web page for autumn and winter vaccination (https://gov.tw/eU4), it added.
Eight Chinese naval vessels and 24 military aircraft were detected crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait between 6am yesterday and 6am today, the Ministry of National Defense said this morning. The aircraft entered Taiwan’s northern, central, southwestern and eastern air defense identification zones, the ministry said. The armed forces responded with mission aircraft, naval vessels and shore-based missile systems to closely monitor the situation, it added. Eight naval vessels, one official ship and 36 aircraft sorties were spotted in total, the ministry said.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) today said that if South Korea does not reply appropriately to its request to correct Taiwan’s name on its e-Arrival card system before March 31, it would take corresponding measures to alter how South Korea is labeled on the online Taiwan Arrival Card system. South Korea’s e-Arrival card system lists Taiwan as “China (Taiwan)” in the “point of departure” and “next destination” fields. The ministry said that it changed the nationality for South Koreans on Taiwan’s Alien Resident Certificates from “Korea” to “South Korea” on March 1, in a gesture of goodwill and based on the
Taiwanese officials were shown the first of 66 F-16V fighter jets purchased by Taiwan from the United States, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday, adding the aircraft has completed an initial flight test and is expected to be delivered later this year. A delegation led by Deputy Minister of National Defense Hsu Szu-chien (徐斯儉) visited Lockheed Martin’s F-16 C/D Block 70 (also known as F-16V) assembly line in South Carolina on March 16 to view the aircraft. The jet will undergo a final acceptance flight in the US before being delivered to Taiwan, the
The New Taipei Metro's Sanyin Line and the eastern extension of the Taipei Metro's Tamsui-Xinyi Line (Red Line) are scheduled to begin operations in June, the National Development Council said today. The Red Line, which terminates at Xiangshan Station, would be connected by the 1.4km extension to a new eastern terminal, Guangci/Fengtian Temple Station, while the Sanyin Line would link New Taipei City's Tucheng and Yingge stations via Sanxia District (三峽). The council gave the updates at a council meeting reviewing progress on public construction projects for this year. Taiwan's annual public infrastructure budget would remain at NT$800 billion (US$25.08 billion), with NT$97.3
RSS