Every year, Taiwan purchases about 7 million doses of influenza vaccines. These vaccines are administered free of charge in batches, starting this month with people aged 65 or older, followed by the second batch next month for those older than 50. By the end of the year, about 5 million to 6 million doses would have been used. Starting from the New Year, vaccinations are to be opened up to anyone.
Of course, the uptake of vaccines varies from year to year. This year, due to the “immunity debt” factor, a lot of people have recently been coming down with the flu, and there is quite a strong demand for flu vaccines.
In previous years, people have wanted to be vaccinated with imported flu vaccines such as those made by French-based Sanofi or imported from Germany by TTY Biopharm, while those made by Taiwan’s Adimmune Corp have not been quite so popular.
However, as a physician, I always explain to my patients that Adimmune’s vaccine research and development is done under Japanese guidance and the quality is good. I assure them that I have been administering Adimmune’s vaccines for many years and they can put their faith in them.
Most patients are willing to accept this advice, so our first-line clinic has been doing this for many years without any arguments or disputes.
This year, a flu vaccine marketed by Taiwan’s Medigen Vaccine Biologics Corp has been added to the list. The vaccine is made by South Korea’s GC Biopharma and packaged into vials by Medigen’s pharmaceuticals factory in Taiwan, and most experts agree that it is of very good quality.
Unfortunately, due to ideological and political differences in Taiwan, some people have no faith in Medigen, while others have ulterior motives for undermining people’s faith.
Consequently, many parents and elderly people have stumbled upon Internet posts and messages that worry them. Uncertain what to believe, they would rather be safe than sorry.
At the same time, some mayors and county commissioners want to respect parents’ choices, in some cases even issuing clear instructions that schoolchildren should not be given Medigen vaccines, and this has made many elderly people even more doubtful about getting a Medigen jab.
However, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has for many years stipulated that the public cannot choose between vaccines and must take whichever is available. You might think that this year’s addition of Medigen vaccines would make things easier, but it is conversely causing more of a headache for clinics, even eroding doctor-patient trust.
The authorities have only bought 700,000 doses of the Medigen vaccine this year. Rather than making elderly people worried and afraid, making life difficult for clinics and spoiling the trust between doctors and patients, it would be better to assign the Medigen vaccines to the last batch so they could be used early next year, when free vaccines become available for the under-50s. That would come as a big relief for everyone.
The CDC should not insist that the public not be able to choose their vaccines and have to accept the Medigen jab if that is the only one available. At best that would cause widespread resentment, and at worst it would make elderly people hesitant about getting vaccinated, which would cause some of them to end up seriously ill in a hospital or even endanger their lives. It is high time for the CDC to give this issue a thorough rethink.
Wang Fong-yu is a standing director of the Taiwan Medical Association.
Translated by Julian Clegg
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