Swine flu shots for students moved up

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 Nov. 16, from Dec. 1.

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

Hsieh Kuo-ching, chairman of the National Alliance of Parents Organizations, complained that while the nationwide immunization drive against swine flu kicked off on Nov. 1, waiting until after Dec. 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 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 nationwide H1N1 immunization program currently puts priority on vaccinating victims of Typhoon Morakot, as well as medical workers.

To determine whether the priority list should be revised, the epidemic command center will look into factors including the results of clinical trials on minors of the H1N1 vaccine developed by the local pharmaceutical company Adimmune Corp., the company's vaccine production schedule, and the vaccine's distribution nationwide, the center said.

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