Over 6 million doses of seasonal flu vaccine administered: CDC

Taipei, Dec. 7 (CNA) More than 6 million doses of this year's publicly-funded influenza vaccine have been administered to date, including to nearly half the population aged 65 and above, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said Thursday.

Since its rollout on Oct. 2, a total of 6.018 million doses of the flu vaccine have been administered, CDC Deputy Director General Lo Yi-chun (羅一鈞) told reporters.

In terms of age, Lo said 2.08 million people aged 65 and above, or 49.8 percent of that population group, have received a vaccine shot, just shy of the government's goal of 55 percent.

Meanwhile, 15.4 percent of the age 50-64 population (813,000 people) have been vaccinated, as well as around 70,000 people aged 19-49 with chronic illnesses or other factors that put them at risk of severe complications, Lo said.

As of Thursday, 561,000 doses of the influenza vaccine purchased by the government remained unused, according to Lo.

The CDC will consider purchasing additional doses of the vaccine based on demand, he said.

This year's flu vaccines were purchased from three Taiwanese suppliers -- Adimmune, TTY Biopharm Co. and Medigen Vaccine Biologics Corp. -- and France's Sanofi S.A., and are available at contracted clinics and hospitals.

Taiwan's flu season typically begins in November and peaks over the winter before winding down in March.