A batch of Novavax’s updated XBB.1.5 COVID-19 vaccine, with an expiration date of Aug. 31, yesterday arrived in Taiwan, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said.
The batch of of 462,800 doses is to go through lot release testing, before it is made available for people aged 12 or older on Jan. 9, at the earliest, it said.
Earlier in the week, the CDC said that people aged 65 or older and people with chronic diseases should get the vaccine for the Omicron XBB.1.5 subvariant of SARS-CoV-2 as soon as possible, as the number of COVID-19 cases has been rising in the past few weeks.
Photo courtesy of the Centers for Disease Control
In the week starting on Dec. 18, 326 new COVID-19 were reported, up from about 26 percent from the week before, the agency said.
Of those cases, 99 percent did not receive an XBB vaccine, which has been available since Sept. 26, it said.
Of the 37 COVID-19 fatalities recorded last week — up 16 percent week-on-week — only one of the deceased had received an XBB shot, it said.
Of all of the domestic COVID-19 cases recorded in Taiwan over the past four weeks, 73 percent had the EG.5 strain, followed by JN.1 at 9 percent and XBB.1.9.1 at 6 percent, the CDC said.
The XBB shots are effective in protecting against the EG.5 and JN.1 variants, it said.
As cases of COVID-19 and flu-like illnesses are rising and many people are expected to attend new year’s festivities, the CDC urged people to wear masks in crowded settings with poor ventilation or where social distancing is difficult to achieve, or when visiting elderly or immunocompromised people.
People should also avoid gatherings if they are experiencing respiratory symptoms, to avoid spreading disease, it said.
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,”
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
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.
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