New COVID-19 shots coming in the fall –

By Lin Hui-chin and Jonathan Chin / Staff reporter, with staff writer

Updated vaccines targeting the JN.1 variant of SARS-CoV-2 would be available from Oct. 1, health officials told a news briefing in Taipei yesterday.

The government urges people to get inoculated with any available COVID-19 vaccine, as shots with a 30 percent mismatch to the latest variants can retain up to 80 percent of their effectiveness, Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices convener Lee Ping-ing () said.

A recent WHO advisory states that governments should provide vaccinations as soon as doses become available and not try to obtain the latest vaccines at the expense of delaying inoculations, Lee said.

Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang () said the centers selected vaccines targeting the JN.1 variant for the fall and winter, as newer vaccines targeting the KP.2 variant are not expected to be available outside North America soon.

Citing the governments contract with Moderna, Chuang said that 5.5 million doses of JN.1-adapted vaccines would be delivered in the fall and winter, and another 2.7 million doses would arrive late next year.

The CDC plans to authorize COVID-19 vaccine subsidies on a year-by-year basis following the full delivery of Moderna vaccines next year, he said.

Meanwhile, Taiwanese are urged to get vaccinated with the remaining 2.7 million XBB-targeted vaccine doses, he said.

Influenza vaccinations would be administered concurrently with COVID-19 jabs, CDC Deputy Director-General Tseng Shu-hui () said.

The new COVID-19 vaccines would first be available to doctors, nurses and hospital workers; people aged 65 or older; people of indigenous descent aged 55 or older; and people in long-term care facilities, Tseng said.

Children aged six months to 18 years; parents of infants younger than six months; childcare professionals; people with underlying health conditions aged 19 to 64; people with a body mass index higher than 30; people with rare diseases or serious injuries; and people who work in animal or human disease prevention are also eligible, she said.

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New COVID-19 shots coming in the fall -