Swine flu shots became available yesterday for babies aged between six months and a year, and a health official said babies can be vaccinated for both A(H1N1) and seasonal flu at the same time.
Centers for Disease Control Deputy Director-General Lin Ting (林頂) said the number of babies eligible for the vaccinations has been estimated at between 100,000 and 150,000, and the vaccinations are available at 548 locations nationwide, such as local county or city health departments and district health centers.
For the two-dose A(H1N1) vaccination, babies need to receive the shots a month apart, he said.
PHOTO: CNA
Babies allergic to eggs should not receive the shots as they could trigger an allergic reaction.
People affected by Typhoon Morakot and health care personnel have been receiving the A(H1N1) shots since the beginning of this month after the government placed them at the top of the priority list.
Next on the list after the babies under a year old are pre-school children, seriously ill patients and elementary school students, who are scheduled to receive the shots starting next Monday.
Others on the priority list are junior and senior high school students, people in the 19 to 24 age bracket and those over 25 at high risk of cardiopulmonary disease, healthy people in the 25 to 49 age bracket, and people between 50 and 64 years of age, in that order.
In related news, Hsu Tien-lai (??, director-general of the Council of Agriculture’s Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine, said yesterday that pigs on a farm in Taitung that were diagnosed with the A(H1N1) influenza virus late last month are recovering without showing new traces of the virus.
The infection was discovered among a herd of 160 pigs raised on the farm in Guanshan Township (關山) after the animals came down with coughs, runny noses and diarrhea at the end of last month.
Hsu said that in a second round of specimen collections and sophisticated tests conducted by the Centers for Disease Control on Thursday, all the affected pigs were found to be free of the virus.
A third round of tests is scheduled to be conducted tomorrow, Hsu said, adding that if the affected pigs test negative, restrictions on their movement will be lifted.
Hong Kong-based American singer-songwriter Khalil Fong (方大同) has passed away at the age of 41, Fong’s record label confirmed yesterday. “With unwavering optimism in the face of a relentless illness for five years, Khalil Fong gently and gracefully bid farewell to this world on the morning of February 21, 2025, stepping into the next realm of existence to carry forward his purpose and dreams,” Fu Music wrote on the company’s official Facebook page. “The music and graphic novels he gifted to the world remain an eternal testament to his luminous spirit, a timeless treasure for generations to come,” it said. Although Fong’s
China’s military buildup in the southern portion of the first island chain poses a serious threat to Taiwan’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply, a defense analyst warned. Writing in a bulletin on the National Defense and Security Research’s Web site on Thursday, Huang Tsung-ting (黃宗鼎) said that China might choke off Taiwan’s energy supply without it. Beginning last year, China entrenched its position in the southern region of the first island chain, often with Russia’s active support, he said. In May of the same year, a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) force consisting of a Type 054A destroyer, Type 055 destroyer,
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was questioned by prosecutors for allegedly orchestrating an attack on a taxi driver after he was allegedly driven on a longer than necessary route in a car he disliked. The questioning at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office was ongoing as of press time last night. Police have recommended charges of attempted murder. The legally embattled actor — known for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代) — is under a separate investigation for allegedly using fake medical documents to evade mandatory military service. According to local media reports, police said Wang earlier last year ordered a
Taiwan is planning to expand the use of artificial intelligence (AI)-based X-ray imaging to customs clearance points over the next four years to curb the smuggling of contraband, a Customs Administration official said. The official on condition of anonymity said the plan would cover meat products, e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products, large bundles of banknotes and certain agricultural produce. Taiwan began using AI image recognition systems in July 2021. This year, generative AI — a subset of AI which uses generative models to produce data — would be used to train AI models to produce realistic X-ray images of contraband, the official
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