The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday announced that government-funded seasonal influenza (flu) and COVID-19 vaccinations are to begin on Oct. 1.
While the number of flu and COVID-19 cases dropped slightly last week, prevention is important, especially as school starts next week, it added.
People aged 18 years or older who receive a dose of flu, COVID-19 or pneumococcal vaccine, whether government funded or paid out of pocket, would receive a “health coin,” CDC Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞) said.
Photo: Hou Chia-yu, Taipei Times
The health coin program is to be launched in October, and details of the program, including the amount of coins offered for each vaccine, would be announced tomorrow, Lo said.
The CDC has procured a record 7,050,150 doses of flu vaccines, and 2.4 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines, he said.
The vaccines include 200,790 doses of an enhanced influenza vaccine, which offer 20 to 30 percent better protection, for the first time, and they will be prioritized for elderly residents of long-term care facilities, he said.
Trivalent flu vaccines targeting an A(H1N1) strain, an A(H3N2) strain and a B strain have been selected for the upcoming flu season, Lo said, adding that they cover the dominant virus strain that is spreading locally and should provide good protection.
The COVID-19 vaccines include 2.2 million doses by Moderna — 1.9 million next-generation single-dose vaccines targeting the XFG variant and 300,000 doses of the current multidose vial vaccine targeting the JN.1 variant — and 200,000 doses by Novavax targeting the XFG variant, he said.
The next-generation single-dose COVID-19 vaccine has a less active mRNA ingredient per dose and offers robust immunity, but is only eligible for people aged 12 or older, while the multidose vial vaccine would be offered to children under 12, he added.
Eligibility for the first phase of flu and COVID-19 vaccination are the high-risk groups listed in previous years, Lo said.
However, the list has been expanded to include new categories: public health specialists, actual caregivers of infants under six months old, and non-temporary kitchen and administrative workers at childcare centers, he said.
For the COVID-19 vaccine, the category of “young children aged six months to before entering elementary” has been revised to “children under six who have never received a COVID-19 vaccine,” he said.
The second phase is to begin on Nov. 2, with people aged 50 to 64 years old eligible for both vaccines, Lo said.
Medical visits for flu last week totaled 94,340, 2.5 percent lower than the previous week, CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) said, adding that 64 severe cases and 15 deaths were confirmed.
For COVID-19, 24,995 cases were reported last week, about 6 percent fewer than the week before, but 59 severe cases and 19 deaths were confirmed, he said.
As some schools are opening next week, and flu and COVID-19 activity remains high, people should still take preventive measures, Lo said.
The COVID-19 epidemic period is expected to continue into next month, while flu and enterovirus cases might increase after school starts, and the risk of dengue fever is increasing due to heavy rainfall, CDC Deputy Director-General Lin Min-cheng (林明誠) said.
There are still about 109,000 doses of free COVID-19 vaccines available for people aged six or older before Sept. 9, he said.
Aside from vaccination, washing hands thoroughly with soap, wearing a mask in crowded or poorly ventilated venues, resting at home when sick, and eliminating mosquito breeding grounds are encouraged to reduce risks of spreading diseases, Lin said.
Ugandan immigration authorities have returned the passports of four Taiwanese after withholding the travel documents at Entebbe International Airport, Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Hsiao Kuang-wei (蕭光偉) said yesterday. After hearing about the incident, the ministry immediately instructed its representative office in Somaliland, which is responsible for affairs involving Uganda, to closely monitor the situation and work with the Uganda Taiwanese Chamber of Commerce to communicate with the authorities there, Hsiao said. The passports were returned to their holders on Wednesday local time, he said. The incident followed an earlier incident in which Ugandan immigration officials withheld the passports of two Taiwanese at
China has completed the first phase of construction on Antelope Reef (Lingyang Reef, 羚羊礁) in the Paracel Islands (Xisha Islands, 西沙群島), building an artificial island in the disputed South China Sea that analysts say will form part of its largest military base. Satellite images showed the reclaimed feature — which Taiwan also claims — in outline for the first time, with barges and dredgers having left after at least six months of work in the busy waterway. The completion shows the South China Sea as an increasingly militarized arena of competition between China and the US and its allies. “The northern part of
A fire and subsequent explosion in a residential area in Tainan early yesterday injured 15 people and damaged 68 homes, the Tainan City Fire Bureau said. The bureau said it received a report at 1:12am yesterday that a pile of waste in a vacant lot in Annan District’s (安南) Haidian Road had caught fire and exploded, adding that it dispatched 144 firefighters and 53 firetrucks to battle the blaze and evacuate nearby residents. It took more than four hours to extinguish the fire, it said. The incident damaged 11 privately owned vehicles, as well as eight fire engines, one ambulance and two disaster
DELUGE: The Tainan City Government requested five mobile water pumps from the central government to supplement the 511 pumps it had already prepared Torrential rain caused by the combined effects of southwesterly winds and a low-pressure belt battered southern Taiwan yesterday, causing widespread flooding across Tainan, Kaohsiung and Pingtung County. More than 2,300 people were evacuated as authorities warned of continued heavy rain through tomorrow. Tainan, Kaohsiung and Pingtung County yesterday announced that work and classes would remain suspended today for the second consecutive day amid heavy rain and flooding. Chiayi, Hualien and Taitung counties later last night also announced that work and classes would be canceled today. The Kaohsiung City Government said it expected cumulative rainfall over the five-day period of the low-pressure system to
Facts Only
* Flu and COVID-19 vaccinations begin on October 1.
* Vaccines will be distributed via a "health coin" program to people aged 18 or older who receive flu, COVID-19, or pneumococcal vaccines, regardless of funding source.
* The CDC has procured 7,050,150 flu vaccine doses and 2.4 million COVID-19 vaccine doses.
* Enhanced influenza vaccines, offering 20 to 30 percent better protection, will be prioritized for elderly residents of long-term care facilities.
* Flu vaccines selected cover strains targeting A(H1N1), A(H3N2), and B strains.
* COVID-19 vaccines include 2.2 million doses by Moderna (targeting XFG variant) and 1.9 million next-generation single-dose vaccines for the XFG variant, plus 300,000 doses targeting the JN.1 variant.
* Next-generation single-dose COVID-19 vaccines have less active mRNA and are for ages 12 or older; multidose vial vaccines are for children under 12.
* First phase eligibility includes high-risk groups, public health specialists, actual caregivers of infants under six months, and non-temporary kitchen/administrative workers at childcare centers.
* The category for young children (six months to before elementary) is revised to "children under six who have never received a COVID-19 vaccine."
* The second phase begins on November 2, with people aged 50 to 64 eligible for both vaccines.
* Last week's flu visits totaled 94,340, and COVID-19 reported 24,995 cases.
Executive Summary
Full Take
The rollout strategy blends broad public health incentives with highly specific stratification of vaccine access and efficacy based on evolving viral strains and demographic risk. The implementation of a "health coin" system attempts to democratize access while simultaneously managing supply distribution through pre-defined priority groups, such as long-term care residents for enhanced flu shots. This juxtaposition forces an examination of how public health goals—achieving high coverage versus protecting the most vulnerable—are balanced operationally.
The vaccine rollout demonstrates a complex layering of evolving scientific understanding. The simultaneous use of different vaccine types, like mRNA single-doses targeting specific variants (XFG, JN.1) alongside traditional multi-dose vials, reflects an attempt to manage immediate threat response with ongoing adaptation to emerging infectious dynamics. Furthermore, the expansion of eligibility criteria—including frontline workers and caregivers—signals a shift in defining public health responsibility beyond typical patient populations.
The tension lies in the management of temporal risk versus administrative burden. While data shows slight reductions in acute cases for both diseases last week, the anticipation of increased activity coinciding with the start of the school year suggests that the focus shifts from reactive containment to proactive systemic resilience. The simultaneous reports of environmental hazards (flooding) and public health advisories underscore a pattern where crises are multifaceted; managing disease risk must occur concurrently with mitigating physical environmental risks, demanding holistic resource allocation from governing bodies.
Bridge Questions: How will the operational logistics of the health coin system ensure equitable distribution without creating new administrative bottlenecks? What is the long-term impact on public trust if eligibility criteria shift frequently based on emerging variants and social roles? How can public health messaging effectively integrate warnings about disease transmission with simultaneous concerns over environmental stability?
Sentinel — Human
The text reads like a compilation of factual reporting from various sources, likely compiled by a news agency, exhibiting the characteristic flow and detail of human journalistic synthesis.