Prevention efforts: Vaccination aims to reduce the risk of hospitalization and death, but it does not guarantee people will never get infected, experts said.
By Lee I-chia / Staff Reporter
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) announced yesterday that the seasonal influenza vaccine and Omicron JN.1-adapted COVID-19 vaccine are now available and advised people to get vaccinated as soon as possible.
“A flu vaccine in your left arm, a coronavirus vaccine in your right arm, healthy and safe,” the CDC said, referring to the slogan of this year’s government-funded vaccination campaign.
Health and Welfare Minister Chiu Taiyuan (Chiu Taiyuan) said the first phase of government-funded vaccinations began yesterday and will target people at high risk of exposure and severe illness from infection.
Photo: Yixing Wang, Taipei Times
He said there are about 4,000 contracted medical facilities across the country where people can receive vaccinations, and information on those facilities can be found on the CDC and local health department websites.
Cheng Xiaoyi, director of the Department of Family Medicine at National Taiwan University Hospital, said the targeted groups include medical workers, people over 65, residents of nursing homes, children from 6 months old to preschool age, and others. It said that includes parents of infants. Persons under 6 months old, pregnant women, nursery school/kindergarten staff, students, and those involved in livestock farming or animal disease prevention.
Chen said the purpose of vaccination is to reduce the risk of hospitalization and death from infection, but does not guarantee that people will not get infected.
He added that people should receive the JN.1-adapted vaccine because the mortality rate for hospitalization due to COVID-19 remains higher than that for influenza.
The second phase of vaccinations will begin next month, with people between the ages of 50 and 64 eligible for the flu vaccine, and people 6 months and older eligible for the coronavirus vaccine, according to the CDC.
Taiwanese actress Apple Huang (黃暐婷) and her husband Carter Jo (趙國翔), parents of a newborn, became vaccine ambassadors and received COVID-19 and influenza vaccinations at the CDC yesterday.
Meanwhile, the Center reported that 51 locally transmitted cases of dengue fever were reported in New Taipei City from last Tuesday to Monday, with most of the infected people visiting several hotspots in Zhonghe District and Xintian District, so there is no link. It was announced that there is. Adding to the first cluster brings the total up to 57.
CDC Deputy Director Philip Lo (Luo Yibin) said the city’s containment measures are showing effectiveness, with the number of daily infections decreasing and only one person infected on Monday.
Typhoon Kraton is expected to bring heavy rain this week, and it will be difficult to remove standing water immediately after the storm, Lo said.
Dengue fever expert Associate Professor Huang Ji-sen (Huang Ji-sen) of Taipei University’s College of Earth and Life Sciences observed the following during a visit to a hotspot (Sankai Temple) and a hiking trail near Tianshan Park (Tianshan Park). said. The rate of mosquito bites was between 5 and 20 per hour.
He said none of the residents and hikers he met at the hotspot were taking precautions to avoid mosquito bites, and most were elderly people who were at higher risk of serious illness from infection.
He said the city government should temporarily close trails and parks to reduce dengue transmission.
He said that the main vector of dengue fever in northern Taiwan is the Aedes albopictus (or Asian tiger mosquito), which is native to Taiwan and one of the most dangerous invasive species in the world, and that it is spread across all administrative regions across Taiwan. He added that this mosquito can be seen in Nation.
Huang said Asian tiger mosquitoes are usually active between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., with peak activity times between 9 a.m. and 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. It is said that they may also be attracted indoors where there is a buildup of water.
He said all the dengue fever outbreaks in Taiwan in the past decade occurred after typhoons, and urged the public to remove standing water and take precautions to avoid mosquito bites, especially after heavy rains. I asked for it.
