Updated vaccines targeting the JN.1 variant of SARS-CoV-2 would be available from Oct. 1, health officials told a news briefing in Taipei yesterday.
The government urges people to get inoculated with any available COVID-19 vaccine, as shots with a 30 percent mismatch to the latest variants can retain up to 80 percent of their effectiveness, Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices convener Lee Ping-ing (李秉穎) said.
A recent WHO advisory states that governments should provide vaccinations as soon as doses become available and not try to obtain the latest vaccines at the expense of delaying inoculations, Lee said.
Photo: CNA
Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥) said the centers selected vaccines targeting the JN.1 variant for the fall and winter, as newer vaccines targeting the KP.2 variant are not expected to be available outside North America soon.
Citing the government’s contract with Moderna, Chuang said that 5.5 million doses of JN.1-adapted vaccines would be delivered in the fall and winter, and another 2.7 million doses would arrive late next year.
The CDC plans to authorize COVID-19 vaccine subsidies on a year-by-year basis following the full delivery of Moderna vaccines next year, he said.
Meanwhile, Taiwanese are urged to get vaccinated with the remaining 2.7 million XBB-targeted vaccine doses, he said.
Influenza vaccinations would be administered concurrently with COVID-19 jabs, CDC Deputy Director-General Tseng Shu-hui (曾淑慧) said.
The new COVID-19 vaccines would first be available to doctors, nurses and hospital workers; people aged 65 or older; people of indigenous descent aged 55 or older; and people in long-term care facilities, Tseng said.
Children aged six months to 18 years; parents of infants younger than six months; childcare professionals; people with underlying health conditions aged 19 to 64; people with a body mass index higher than 30; people with rare diseases or serious injuries; and people who work in animal or human disease prevention are also eligible, she said.
A magnitude 4.9 earthquake struck off Tainan at 11:47am today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 32.3km northeast of Tainan City Hall at a depth of 7.3km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Tainan and Chiayi County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Chiayi City and County, and Yunlin County, while it was measured as 2 in Kaohsiung, Nantou County, Changhua County, Taitung County and offshore Penghu County, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of
Weather conditions across Taiwan are expected to remain stable today, but cloudy to rainy skies are expected from tomorrow onward due to increasing moisture in the atmosphere, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). Daytime highs today are expected to hit 25-27°C in western Taiwan and 22-24°C in the eastern counties of Yilan, Hualien, and Taitung, data on the CWA website indicated. After sunset, temperatures could drop to 16-17°C in most parts of Taiwan. For tomorrow, precipitation is likely in northern Taiwan as a cloud system moves in from China. Daytime temperatures are expected to hover around 25°C, the CWA said. Starting Monday, areas
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
Taiwan has recorded its first fatal case of Coxsackie B5 enterovirus in 10 years after a one-year-old boy from southern Taiwan died from complications early last month, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. CDC spokesman Lo Yi-chun (羅一鈞) told a news conference that the child initially developed a fever and respiratory symptoms before experiencing seizures and loss of consciousness. The boy was diagnosed with acute encephalitis and admitted to intensive care, but his condition deteriorated rapidly, and he passed away on the sixth day of illness, Lo said. This also marks Taiwan’s third enterovirus-related death this year and the first severe
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