Taiwan to buy 150,000 more flu doses as supply nears depletion

Taipei, Nov. 25 (CNA) Taiwan's Centers for Disease Control (CDC) on Tuesday said it will purchase an additional 150,000 influenza vaccine doses, as most of the current supply is expected to run out by late December.

A record 6.125 million people have received publicly funded flu shots in Taiwan this year, accounting for 91.7 percent of the roughly 6.68 million doses purchased, CDC Director-General Lo Yi-chun (羅一鈞) told a routine news briefing in Taipei.

The figure is 16 percent higher than the 5.26 million doses administered during the same period last year, Lo added.

He attributed the strong demand to the earlier-than-usual arrival of the flu season this year and heightened public awareness following the death of Taiwanese actress Barbie Hsu (徐熙媛) from influenza in Japan in February.

This is likely the last batch of vaccines to be purchased for the current flu season, Lo said, urging those eligible or planning to pay for a shot themselves to get vaccinated as soon as possible.

With the additional 150,000 doses, the total number of flu vaccines purchased this year will reach 6.829 million, the highest ever for Taiwan, he said.

Speaking on changes in the flu season, CDC spokesperson Tseng Shu-hui (曾淑慧) said the number of cases is expected to start rising in mid-December, with its peak likely to happen around the Lunar New Year period.

CDC data show that from Nov. 16 to 22, there were 85,425 emergency department visits for flu-like illnesses, a 10.1 percent decrease from the previous week. Over the past seven days, 25 new severe influenza cases and 12 deaths were reported.

Influenza A virus subtype H3N2 remains the dominant strain circulating in the community, followed by H1N1 and influenza B.

According to CDC statistics, there have been 325 severe influenza cases and 45 deaths so far this flu season. Among the severe cases, 63 percent were people aged 65 and older, 83 percent had underlying health conditions, and 94 percent had not received a flu vaccine this season.