Taiwan Today

Five million doses of influenza A (H1N1) vaccine have been purchased through Novartis Taiwan, according to Minister of Health Yaung Chih-liang Sept. 1. Deputy Minister of Health Chang Shan-chwen pointed out that following the principle of two doses per person, five groups of priority vaccination recipients can be covered by the Novartis supplies, to be imported from Novartis manufacturing sites abroad. These groups include, in order, 5,000 to 6,000 typhoon victims in temporary shelters, 400,000 medical staff, 280,000 pregnant women, 1.4 million 6-month-old to 6-year-old children, and 410,000 persons with serious medical conditions. The local Adimmune vaccine will be administered to seriously ill persons, students from elementary school through high school, and roughly 1.09 million 19 to 24-year-old youths. As the population of this last group is 1.98 million, around 890,000 people in this age group will have no access to the H1N1 vaccine. Yaung said that combined with the 10 million doses of Adimmune vaccine, there are already 15 million doses of influenza A (H1N1) vaccine, enough to inoculate 7.5 million people, or one third of the population. Additional dosages will be purchased through Adimmune Corp. if necessary. In addition to the vaccines, the Centers for Disease Control also announced the acquisition of Tamiflu sufficient for 2.68 million people from Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd. The first batch of doses good for 1 million people will be imported within one month. The last batch will be delivered by the end of the year at the latest, with prices no higher than the NT$800 (US$24.35) per box for earlier orders of the drug. The CDC now possesses anti-viral medication and ingredients to make it in quantities sufficient to treat 18 percent of the total population. If one of the ingredients for Tamiflu, shikimic acid, is not counted, there are 510,000 doses of Tamiflu capsules, powdered Tamiflu good for 1.7 million people and Relenza for 970,000 people. These forms of medication together could treat 13.8 percent of Taiwan’s population. If the newly-acquired Tamiflu for 2.68 million people is counted, the CDC inventory of Tamiflu and Relenza can cover 5.86 million H1N1 patients, or 25.5 percent of the total population. (JY-THN)