Starting from April 8, people aged 65 and older, indigenous people aged 55 to 64, children younger than six months old and people who are immunocompromised would be eligible for a booster shot of a vaccine against the JN.1 subvariant of SARS-CoV-2, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday.
The booster shot should only be taken 180 days after their previous shot, CDC Deputy Director-General Tseng Shu-hui (曾淑惠) said.
While a vaccine of the JN.1 variant was administered as of Oct. 1 last year, its protection wanes over time, she said.
Photo courtesy of the Centers for Disease Control
The CDC cited the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s guidelines that people in the targeted groups receive another booster shot.
The immunocompromised group includes people undergoing or who have undergone immunosuppressive therapy, chemotherapy or radiation therapy within the past year or who are taking immunosuppressive medication; people who have had organ transplant or stem-cell transplant surgery; people who have medium or severe congenital immunodeficiency; people who are on dialysis; those who have HIV; and other cases as deemed necessary by a doctor, Tseng said.
Six new severe cases of COVID-19 and one death were reported last week, CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Deputy Director Lee Chia-lin (李佳琳) said.
From September last year to yesterday, 522 cases of severe local cases of COVID-19 were reported, 112 of which resulted in death, Lee said.
Most cases involved people aged 65 and older or those with chronic diseases, she said.
All new strains reported over the past four weeks were of the SARS-CoV-2 XEC variant, including the JN.1, LP.8.1 and others, she said.
CDC data showed that 2.04 million people have been vaccinated against JN.1, 1.91 million of which used Moderna vaccines and 127,000 used Novavax vaccines.
The nation has a sufficient supply of JN.1 vaccines, with Moderna and Novavax options available for people aged 12 and older, Lee said, adding that children aged six months to 11 years old would only be vaccinated with Moderna vaccines.
Hospitals reported 108,000 emergency room visits for influenza-like illnesses last week, indicating a downward trend, the CDC said.
Emergency rooms admitted 211,000 people with diarrhea-like illnesses, down 18.4 percent from the previous week, but still the highest for the same period over the past five years, it said.
The number of diarrhea clusters in the past four weeks, 242, is also the highest for the same period, it said.
Most outbreaks occur at hotels and eateries, with the majority, 98.7 percent, affected by norovirus, it said, urging people to take necessary precautions.
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