Taiwan leader Ma Ying-jeou (1st right) watches as a school boy receives a dose of vaccine against the so-called swine flu in Taipei County's Kuang Fu Elementary School in Zhonghe City yesterday. Ma was also inoculated yesterday, CNA reported. CNA

TAIPEI: The government began offering free vaccinations against A(H1N1), commonly known as swine flu, to elementary school students, pre-school children, pregnant women and seriously ill patients.

It was also the first day that a locally produced vaccine was brought into use for the island-wide immunization program, which was launched November 1 as part of the government's efforts to prevent and control H1N1.

The local vaccine produced by Taiwan's sole vaccine manufacturer, Adimmune Corp, will mostly be used for inoculating students, according to Centers for Disease Control Director Steve H.S. Kuo.

He explained that, so far, those listed as top priority for the free inoculations - including typhoon-affected victims, medical personnel in charge of disease control and prevention, as well as infants aged between six months and one year - have all been given shots of vaccine produced by Novartis, a multinational pharmaceutical corporation.

The Department of Health assessed that there would be some 200,000 people getting the shot yesterday, including Taiwan leader Ma Ying-jeou, who got his vaccination along with students of Taipei County's Kuang Fu Elementary School in Zhonghe Citym according to Ma's spokesman Wang Yu-chih.

Ma wanted to provide some reassurance that the quality of the locally produced vaccine is as good as foreign products, Wang added.

Under the government-outlined order of priority for the free vaccinations, Ma is listed in the last category of healthy people in the 50-64 age bracket, who can get the shot in March if there is still any government-funded vaccine left by that time.

There were no reports of people reacting to the shot that day, except for two schoolgirls in southern Taiwan's Chiayi City who complained of mild dizziness and nausea.

Chen Yi-sheng, director of the department of family medicine at the Chiayi Veterans General Hospital, reminded those who are allergic to eggs or those who feel ill after being inoculated against seasonal flu that they should not receive the H1N1 shot.

Meanwhile, Taiwan recorded its 29th fatality from swine flu, according to the Central Epidemics Command Center (CECC).

The victim was a 40-year-old man from Taipei County who had been receiving dialysis for many years and who also suffered from heart disease.

China Daily/CNA

(HK Edition 11/17/2009 page2)