Vaccination is the best way to protect against influenza. The government, with vaccines sourced from home and abroad, launched an inoculation program on Nov. 1 for those considered at high risk of contracting A(H1N1), or swine flu. It subsequently launched a nationwide immunization program on Dec. 12, hoping to shield the population against the global epidemic.
Despite the government’s all-out campaign, and despite incentives such as cabbage, towels and stationery offered at some locations, the inoculation rate remains short of the targeted 30 percent of the population. Department of Health Minister Yaung Chih-liang (楊志良) said the inoculation rate was around 20 percent as of Tuesday.
Clearly, reports of side effects have dissuaded some people from being vaccinated.
While some may attribute their hesitation to the effectiveness of the vaccines produced by Adimmune Corp — the nation’s sole manufacturer of the H1N1 vaccine for humans — the truth of the matter is the government’s perfunctory handling of complaints and reported side effects has fueled public distrust about the locally produced vaccine and decreased confidence in the vaccination program.
After the inoculation program was launched last month, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said it received a few requests for compensation from people who suffered problems after receiving an H1N1 shot. The complaints ranged from mild dizziness and nausea among students to a high school student who became numb on the left side of her body to two stillbirths and deaths among elderly recipients.
The latest alleged vaccine-related problem is the death of a seven-year-old boy on Monday, 32 days after receiving an H1N1 vaccination. The child’s father, a physician, said his son developed a high fever and a skin rash on Dec. 2.
Each time, the CDC’s answer to these reports has been a quick dismissal that any problems or reported side effects had “nothing to do with the new vaccines,” and that frequency of side effects was similar to other nations.
True, mild dizziness and nausea might be common and thus deemed normal for people who are fearful of vaccinations. There is no evidence in some of the cases that would link the symptoms to the vaccines. There is also no question that, given this nation’s level of medical technology and professionalism, Adimmune could not produce vaccines that are safe and effective. The key, though, is whether the company was given ample time to develop, produce and test this vaccine.
When deaths accompany reported side effects, the Department of Health needs to be prudent and take steps to determine the exact cause of the deaths rather than quickly try to delink the complaints from the vaccine. The CDC’s speedy dismissal of each complaint, without offering an in-depth follow-up or careful review, risks suggesting that the CDC is more concerned with defending Adimmune than guarding public health.
The key to allaying concerns about the vaccine is the government’s attitude. Does it have the sense of responsibility to conduct thorough investigations, or does it remain so self-confident that it is willing to ignore political packaging — as it did in August with Typhoon Morakot?
A nation has several pillars of national defense, among them are military strength, energy and food security, and national unity. Military strength is very much on the forefront of the debate, while several recent editorials have dealt with energy security. National unity and a sense of shared purpose — especially while a powerful, hostile state is becoming increasingly menacing — are problematic, and would continue to be until the nation’s schizophrenia is properly managed. The controversy over the past few days over former navy lieutenant commander Lu Li-shih’s (呂禮詩) usage of the term “our China” during an interview about his attendance
Bo Guagua (薄瓜瓜), the son of former Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Central Committee Politburo member and former Chongqing Municipal Communist Party secretary Bo Xilai (薄熙來), used his British passport to make a low-key entry into Taiwan on a flight originating in Canada. He is set to marry the granddaughter of former political heavyweight Hsu Wen-cheng (許文政), the founder of Luodong Poh-Ai Hospital in Yilan County’s Luodong Township (羅東). Bo Xilai is a former high-ranking CCP official who was once a challenger to Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) for the chairmanship of the CCP. That makes Bo Guagua a bona fide “third-generation red”
US president-elect Donald Trump earlier this year accused Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) of “stealing” the US chip business. He did so to have a favorable bargaining chip in negotiations with Taiwan. During his first term from 2017 to 2021, Trump demanded that European allies increase their military budgets — especially Germany, where US troops are stationed — and that Japan and South Korea share more of the costs for stationing US troops in their countries. He demanded that rich countries not simply enjoy the “protection” the US has provided since the end of World War II, while being stingy with
Historically, in Taiwan, and in present-day China, many people advocate the idea of a “great Chinese nation.” It is not worth arguing with extremists to say that the so-called “great Chinese nation” is a fabricated political myth rather than an academic term. Rather, they should read the following excerpt from Chinese writer Lin Yutang’s (林語堂) book My Country and My People: “It is also inevitable that I should offend many writers about China, especially my own countrymen and great patriots. These great patriots — I have nothing to do with them, for their god is not my god, and their patriotism is
RSS