TAIPEI: The health authorities have moved up the dates for young students to get vaccinations for the new influenza A(H1N1) after parents complained the youngsters had to wait too long, especially as the number of infections has continued to rise, with nearly 1,000 classes suspended so far.

The Central Epidemics Command Center (CECC) - an ad hoc committee organized by the Executive Yuan to tackle the outbreak of swine flu - announced that the date for swine flu shots for elementary school students will be moved up to November 16, from December 1.

The immunization date for junior high school students will be moved up to November 23 and that for high school students advanced to November 30, according to the CECC.

Hsieh Kuo-ching, chairman of the alliance of parents organizations, complained yesterday that while the island-wide immunization drive against swine flu kicked off on November 1, waiting until after December 1 to give students shots might not meet the urgent need to avert the spread of the virus.

The demand from the parents' association came as the Department of Health's Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday that the number of people seeking medical attention after developing fever has been growing noticeably as the weather is getting cooler.

Of those who were screened through a fast screening process at the hospitals, 95 percent of them were found to have contracted the H1N1 virus, and a majority of these people were elementary and junior high school students, CDC officials said.

The island-wide H1N1 immunization program currently puts priority on vaccinating victims of Typhoon Morakot, as well as medical workers.

So far only 500 hospitals have been registered to participate in the H1N1 inoculation program, compared to 3,500 hospitals that signed up to offer free shots for seasonal flu.

While only 2.99 million doses of the seasonal flu vaccine are being distributed, the CDC is expecting to give 12 million shots of the H1N1 vaccine by the Chinese New Year holiday in February next year.

That has led health authorities to conclude that there will definitely be insufficient health care workers at the 500 contracted hospitals to carry out the immunization program, according to CDC officials.

A shortage of health workers throughout Taiwan has been another factor affecting the smooth implementation of the immunization program, the CDC said.

The DOH has ordered 10 million doses of the vaccine from Taiwan's Adimmune Corp and another 5 million doses from the multinational pharmaceutical company Novartis to cover an anticipated demand of 12 million doses.

China Daily/CNA

(HK Edition 11/04/2009 page2)