The Executive Yuan yesterday approved the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s plan to purchase 100,000 more flu vaccines after demand for flu shots increased following the death of Taiwanese actress Barbie Hsu (徐熙媛).
Hsu died of flu-triggered pneumonia while traveling in Japan during the Lunar New Year holiday. The news has led many in the country to seek flu shots, producing a surge in demand for vaccines, with the government-funded flu vaccines expected to run out in a week, Cabinet spokeswoman Michelle Lee (李慧芝) said at a news conference after the weekly Cabinet meeting, quoting Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰).
Separately, people in 11 high-risk groups would have priority access to the newly purchased vaccines: people aged 64 or older; indigenous people aged 55 or older; children from six months old to six years old; pregnant women; parents with children aged six months or younger; students in elementary school, junior high school, high school and junior college; people with chronic or rare diseases, people with a body mass index of 30 or higher; healthcare and disease-prevention professionals; childcare providers; residents and employees at nursing homes; long-term care facilities; and animal and plant quarantine specialists.
Photo: Taipei Times
Despite a shortage of government-funded vaccines, there remains a sufficient supply of flu vaccines that people can access at their own expense, Cho said.
The government must secure funding to procure additional flu vaccines to protect people with high health risks even though the legislature froze part of the funding for the vaccination program and to subsidize the Vaccination Fund, Cho said.
Government-funded flu vaccines could become available to people with high health risks on Feb. 20 if the process of vaccine procurement proceeds smoothly, Centers for Disease Control Deputy Director-General Tseng Shu-hui (曾淑慧) said.
On Wednesday, about 46,000 doses of government-funded flu vaccines were administered, Tseng said, adding that there were still about 43,000 left as of yesterday.
Taiwan is still in the flu season, with common symptons including, fever, headache, sore throat, coughing and muscle soreness, the centers said.
Some of the life-threatening symptoms include difficulty breathing, shortness of breath, oxygen shortage, chest pain, low blood pressure, bloody or thickened sputum, reduced alertness and fever for 72 hours or more, it added.
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