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.
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