Local COVID-19 infections are at a low point, but are expected to rise slightly this fall and winter, peaking in December, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday, the first day people aged 65 or older were eligible to receive an updated booster vaccine.
Since COVID-19 was downgraded on the notifiable communicable disease scale in May, only hospitalized moderate-to-severe cases are reported to the centers, and the daily number has been gradually falling, reaching a low point this month, CDC Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥) said.
CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Deputy Director Lee Chia-lin (李佳琳) said that an average of 33 hospitalized COVID-19 cases and five deaths per day were reported last week, lower than the daily average of 40 cases and six deaths in the previous week.
Photo: CNA
“However, COVID-19 cases are slightly increasing in Europe and the US, and the CDC predicts that local cases will also begin increasing in the fall and winter, so preparations must be made,” Chuang said, adding that the Omicron XBB subvariant of SARS-CoV-2 is the dominant strain circulating in Taiwan and around the world.
About 78 percent of the hospitalized cases were people aged 65 or older, and about 50 percent of them did not get a booster shot, he said, adding that older Taiwanese should get the XBB.1.5-adapted vaccine as soon as possible.
Seventy-nine-year-old actress Wang Man-chiao (王滿嬌) yesterday demonstrated receiving the booster shot at a CDC event in Taipei to encourage older Taiwanese to get the vaccine and exercise to stay healthy and protect themselves from infection.
She also displayed her COVID-19 vaccination card, showing that she has received four vaccine shots since the start of the pandemic.
People aged 65 or older, who are encouraged to get COVID-19, influenza and pneumococcal conjugate vaccines, can choose to get them separately or at the same time, Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices head Lee Ping-ing (李秉穎) said.
Those who receive two shots in the same arm should make sure they are at least 2.5cm apart, he added.
Government-funded flu and pneumococcal conjugate vaccinations start on Monday.
People aged six months or older, no matter if they are unvaccinated or have received different brands of COVID-19 vaccines, are all eligible for the XBB.1.5-adapted vaccine, Lee Ping-ing said.
However, the recommendations for children aged five or younger are stricter, so the recommended number of doses would depend on their vaccination status, he said.
People aged six or older are recommended to only get one dose of the XBB.1.5-adapted vaccine at least 12 weeks apart from their previous dose or an infection, he said.
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