• Military
• WMD
• Intelligence

• Security Menu                     

• Systems
• Industry
• Operations
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• Space

Local H1N1 vaccine used in national immunization program

ROC Central News Agency

2009.11.16 17:23:01

By Cheng Ching-fang and Elizabeth Hsu

Taipei, Nov. 16 (CNA) The government began offering free vaccinations against A(H1N1) , commonly known as swine flu, to elementary school students, pre-school children, pregnant women and seriously ill patients.

It was also the first day that a locally produced vaccine was brought into use for the national immunization program, which was launched Nov. 1 as part of the government's efforts to prevent and control H1N1.

The local vaccine produced by the country's sole vaccine manufacturer, Adimmune Corp., will mostly be used for inoculating students, according to Centers for Disease Control Director Steve H.S. Kuo.

He explained that so far, those listed as top priority for the free inoculations -- including typhoon-affected victims, medical personnel in charge of disease control and prevention, as well as infants aged between six months and one year -- have all been given shots of vaccine produced by Novartis, a multinational pharmaceutical factory.

The Cabinet-level Department of Health assessed that there would be some 200,000 people getting the shot Monday, including President Ma Ying-jeou.

Ma got his vaccination along with students of Taipei County's Kuang Fu Elementary School in Zhonghe City. According to Ma's spokesman Wang Yu-chih, the president wanted to prove that the quality of the locally produced vaccine is as good as foreign products.

The government has ordered 10 million doses of the vaccine from Adimmune Corp. Another 5 million doses of Novartis vaccine will cover the anticipated nationwide demand for 12 million doses.

Under the government-outlined order of priority for the free vaccinations, Ma is listed in the last category of healthy people in the 50-64 age bracket, who can get the shot in March if there is still any government-funded vaccine left by that time.

There were no reports of people reacting to the shot that day, except for two schoolgirls in southern Taiwan's Chiayi City who complained of mild dizziness and nausea.

Chen Yi-sheng, director of the department of family medicine at the Chiayi Veterans General Hospital, reminded those who are allergic to eggs or those who feel ill after being inoculated against seasonal flu should not receive the H1N1 shot.

Meanwhile that day, Taiwan recorded its 29th fatality from swine flu, according to the Central Epidemics Command Center (CECC).

The victim was a 40-year-old man from Taipei County who had been receiving dialysis for many years and who also suffered from heart disease.

According to the latest CECC statistics, no new flu patients were hospitalized over the previous two days, marking the first time since July that the number of new hospitalized cases had remained unchanged.

Since the outbreak began, the total number of hospitalized cases had reached 592, while the number of school classes suspended due to swine flu outbreaks had accumulated to 1,146, accounting for 0.76 percent of the total classes around the country, according to the CECC.