The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday announced that it would make 200,000 doses of a protein-based Novavax vaccine targeting the JN.1 subvariant of COVID-19 available to the public from Wednesday next week.
The vaccine was an alternative for those who previously had an adverse reaction to more common mRNA COVID-19 vaccines, the CDC said.
The Novavax JN.1 jabs would be available to those who are 12 years old or above, CDC Deputy Director-General Tseng Shu-huai (曾淑慧) said.
Photo: Taipei Times
Meanwhile, 1.7 million out of the 5.5 million doses of Moderna’s mRNA-based JN.1 COVID-19 vaccine procured by the CDC have already been administered, CDC statistics showed.
As Taiwan is well-stocked with mRNA vaccines, unvaccinated people, particularly those who are 65 or older and those with chronic illnesses, should get a shot as soon as possible to lower the chances of developing terminal symptoms due to COVID-19, Tseng said.
People should also be aware that it takes two weeks for a vaccine to begin providing protection against COVID-19, Tseng added.
In other developments, the CDC said 94,882 visits to emergency departments and outpatient clinics for flu-like symptoms were reported from Dec. 15 to Saturday last week, a 16 percent increase compared with the number of cases recorded the previous week.
Among those who visited emergency departments in that period, 10.8 percent were due to flu-like illnesses, very close to the epidemic threshold of 11 percent, it said.
CDC Deputy Director-General Tseng Shu-huai (曾淑慧) warned that in winter, viruses targeting the human respiratory system are more active, and with year-end activities such as Christmas celebrations and New Year’s gatherings, the risk of disease transmission is increasing.
She urged people who have not yet received a flu jab, especially those in high-risk groups, to get vaccinated as soon as possible.
The CDC on Tuesday last week announced that free flu vaccines would be offered to all unvaccinated residents in Taiwan aged 6 months or older starting on Jan. 1 until the vaccine supply is used up.
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
Taiwan is to have nine extended holidays next year, led by a nine-day Lunar New Year break, the Cabinet announced yesterday. The nine-day Lunar New Year holiday next year matches the length of this year’s holiday, which featured six extended holidays. The increase in extended holidays is due to the Act on the Implementation of Commemorative and Festival Holidays (紀念日及節日實施條例), which was passed early last month with support from the opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party. Under the new act, the day before Lunar New Year’s Eve is also a national holiday, and Labor Day would no longer be limited
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The first tropical storm of the year in the western North Pacific, Wutip (蝴蝶), has formed over the South China Sea and is expected to move toward Hainan Island off southern China, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said today. The agency said a tropical depression over waters near the Paracel and Zhongsha islands strengthened into a tropical storm this morning. The storm had maximum sustained winds near its center of 64.8kph, with peak gusts reaching 90kph, it said. Winds at Beaufort scale level 7 — ranging from 50kph to 61.5kph — extended up to 80km from the center, it added. Forecaster Kuan Hsin-ping
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