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Government to buy more flu vaccines as supplies may soon run out

ROC Central News Agency

10/15/2020 06:24 PM

Taipei, Oct. 15 (CNA) The government is currently in talks with four local vaccine companies with the aim of buying more influenza vaccines to meet rising demand, as existing supplies are running out, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said Thursday.

This year's government-funded flu vaccine program started Oct. 5, and as of Oct. 14, 2.51 million doses had been administered, accounting for nearly 40 percent of the total 6.03 million doses the government had bought to provide free shots to vulnerable people, said CDC deputy head Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥).

Aside from the 6 million-plus vaccines that are available for free, there are also another 1.15 million paid-for vaccines available, according to the CDC.

Amid concerns that the vaccine stocks could run out soon, Chuang said the CDC is in talks with four local companies in the hope of procuring further supplies.

But he also admitted that it could be a challenge to get more vaccines anytime soon, given that flu vaccines are in high demand around the globe amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Chuang urged people to get vaccinated before stocks run out, especially young children and the elderly, because boosting the inventory in the short term could be difficult.

According to CDC tallies, the age bracket in which people have taken the greatest advantage of the flu shots so far are those aged over 65, among whom 1.98 million doses were used between Oct. 5-13, accounting for 29.5 percent of the total shots administered so far.

The CDC is aiming to get more than 52.5 percent of people in that age bracket vaccinated.

People in the 50-64 age bracket, meanwhile, had accounted for 649,000 doses, or 12.3 percent of the total shots, as of Oct. 13, according to the CDC, which aims to have 18.7 percent of people in the age bracket to be vaccinated.

Under the program, groups considered to be vulnerable include minors ranging in age from 6 months to senior high school level, people over the age of 50, those with chronic, rare and serious diseases or severe injuries, expectant mothers, parents of babies under 6 months and employees at childcare centers, the CDC said.

Nursing home residents and workers, medical and quarantine personnel, people working in the poultry and livestock sector, zookeepers, and animal quarantine personnel are also eligible to receive the free vaccine, the CDC added.

(By Chang Ming-hsuan and Joseph Yeh)

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