Taiwan to inoculate 10M against A/H1N1 flu by year end

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-10-22 22:42

TAIPEI: Taiwan authority plans to administer 10 million doses of A/H1N1 flu vaccines by the end of this year, local disease control authorities said Thursday.

According to the schedule, disaster-affected people on the island will be the first to get access to the vaccines on November 1, disease control director Kuo Hsu-sung said.

Medical staff working at the frontline will be given the inoculation from November 2, and infants between 6 and 12 months old will be inoculated from November 9, he said.

Typhoon Morakot ravaged Taiwan in early August, leaving more than 700 people dead or missing and forcing the evacuation of thousands. It was the worst typhoon to hit the island in nearly 50 years, and caused havoc across the island's central and southern regions.

As of October 1, 4,550 typhoon-affected people still live in shelter centers, figures from the island's authorities showed.

Yang Chih-liang, head of Taiwan's health authority, said earlier the authority had worked out an inoculation program of 15 million doses of A/H1N1 flu vaccines and the vaccines would be offered to the public for free.

Taiwan Thursday reported another death of the A/H1N1 flu virus, bringing the island's total fatalities to 26, figures from local epidemic control authorities showed.

Of 401 patients who had been seriously ill, 25 were still in hospital.