Taiwan CDC to procure nearly 500,000 more flu, COVID-19 vaccine doses

Taipei, Oct. 13 (CNA) Taiwan's Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said Tuesday it will procure nearly 500,000 additional doses of influenza and COVID-19 vaccines amid strong demand for publicly funded shots, which became available on Oct. 1.

CDC Director-General Lo Yi-chun (羅一鈞) said the agency plans to procure an additional 300,000 doses of influenza vaccines and 174,000 doses of Novavax's COVID-19 vaccine.

If procurement proceeds smoothly, the additional doses are expected to be delivered to local health departments in early November, he said.

Between Oct. 1 and Monday, an estimated 2.27 million flu vaccine doses and 781,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered under the publicly funded vaccination program, up 15.7 percent and 45.5 percent, respectively, from the same period last year, CDC data showed.

The strong uptake has been partly driven by a new incentive program that rewards eligible adults with digital "health tokens" after vaccination.

Since Oct. 1, adults aged 18 and older have been eligible to receive 450 health tokens for a flu shot and 900 for a COVID-19 vaccine.

Taiwan purchased about 7.05 million flu vaccine doses for the 2026-27 season, the first time its procurement has exceeded 7 million doses. It also purchased 2.4 million COVID-19 vaccine doses, including 2.2 million Moderna doses and 200,000 Novavax doses.

Despite a recent decline in flu activity, the outbreak remains at epidemic levels, CDC data indicated.

Outpatient and emergency visits for flu-like illness totaled 128,847 last week, down 8.9 percent from the previous week, the data showed.

The CDC also reported 144 new severe flu cases and 46 deaths during the week.

COVID-19 activity has also eased, the CDC said. There were 5,261 COVID-19-related outpatient and emergency visits last week, down 35.2 percent from the previous week, along with 21 new domestic severe cases and 15 deaths.