Over 3 million receive free flu shots in Taiwan’s two-week rollout

The Taiwan Centers for Disease Control said that between Oct 1 and Oct 16, more than 3 million people in the eleven groups eligible for the first phase of the new publicly funded vaccination programme received flu shots, while close to one million obtained COVID-19 shots. Those figures represent increases of 15.8 % for flu and 39.7 % compared with the same period a year earlier. Phase 1 targeted health-care workers, people aged 65 or older, pregnant women, children and individuals with underlying conditions; a second phase beginning Nov 2 will extend free shots to those aged 50-64 without high-risk illnesses.

As of Friday, 55.5 % of health-care workers, 31.8 % of preschool children and 32.7 % of seniors have been vaccinated against flu. Although overall flu and COVID-19 cases fell this week, a notable share remained severe, prompting CDC spokesperson Lin Min-cheng to call on high-risk groups to get vaccinated before the long holidays and election-related events.