Moderna Inc’s emergency use authorization (EUA) for vaccines targeting the XBB variant of SARS-CoV-2 is imminent, with doses expected to be available as soon as the second half of next month, Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥) said yesterday.
Taiwan intends to import 2 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine in its first delivery, Chuang said.
While target groups are yet to be assigned by the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, high-risk groups would “definitely be on the list,” he said.
Photo courtesy of Taipei Tzu Chi Hospital
Infectious Diseases Society of Taiwan president Wang Fu-te (王復德) said that XBB has become the most prevalent strain in Asia.
It is highly resistant, “possibly due to altered antibody evasion properties deriving from their additional spike mutations,” Wang said, citing work by researcher David Ho (何大一).
Chuang said that BioNTech had also reached out to the CDC for further collaboration, but Taiwan was unlikely to purchase BioNTech vaccines this year, as it still has 14 million Moderna doses.
The government might consider BioNTech as a pay-out-of-pocket option next year, he said.
Separately, Sun Wen-jung (孫文榮), secretary-general of the Taiwan Association of Family Medicine, said that with the end of summer vacation nearing, the government should be on the lookout for a possible surge in COVID-19 cases.
The government should be vigilant throughout the Mid-Autumn Festival and Double Ten National Day holidays, Sun said.
People who are in high-risk groups for the disease should report to a hospital or clinic as soon as possible if they develop symptoms of the disease, he added.
Meanwhile, mask rules are to be further eased at school campuses at elementary and junior-high schools in Taipei when classes start on Wednesday next week and parents would be allowed on school grounds, the city government said yesterday.
Masks would no longer be required on school buses or at campus gatherings, and would only be required in school health centers, the Taipei Department of Education said, adding that parents would be allowed back on campus to meet faculty or participate in school activities.
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
DISCONTENT: The CCP finds positive content about the lives of the Chinese living in Taiwan threatening, as such video could upset people in China, an expert said Chinese spouses of Taiwanese who make videos about their lives in Taiwan have been facing online threats from people in China, a source said yesterday. Some young Chinese spouses of Taiwanese make videos about their lives in Taiwan, often speaking favorably about their living conditions in the nation compared with those in China, the source said. However, the videos have caught the attention of Chinese officials, causing the spouses to come under attack by Beijing’s cyberarmy, they said. “People have been messing with the YouTube channels of these Chinese spouses and have been harassing their family members back in China,”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said there are four weather systems in the western Pacific, with one likely to strengthen into a tropical storm and pose a threat to Taiwan. The nascent tropical storm would be named Usagi and would be the fourth storm in the western Pacific at the moment, along with Typhoon Yinxing and tropical storms Toraji and Manyi, the CWA said. It would be the first time that four tropical cyclones exist simultaneously in November, it added. Records from the meteorology agency showed that three tropical cyclones existed concurrently in January in 1968, 1991 and 1992.
UPDATED FORECAST: The warning covered areas of Pingtung County and Hengchun Peninsula, while a sea warning covering the southern Taiwan Strait was amended The Central Weather Administration (CWA) at 5:30pm yesterday issued a land warning for Typhoon Usagi as the storm approached Taiwan from the south after passing over the Philippines. As of 5pm, Usagi was 420km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost tip, with an average radius of 150km, the CWA said. The land warning covered areas of Pingtung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春), and came with an amended sea warning, updating a warning issued yesterday morning to cover the southern part of the Taiwan Strait. No local governments had announced any class or office closures as of press time last night. The typhoon
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