TAIPEI: Taiwan residents can now decide whether they want to be immunized against the H1N1 virus with a locally-produced vaccine or an imported one, Department of Health (DOH) chief Yaung Chih-liang said yesterday.

"Previously, people were not allowed to make choices, mainly because of the limited supply of foreign-produced vaccine," Yaung explained.

Of the 5.37 million people who have been immunized in Taiwan, only 360,000 people received the vaccine produced by Switzerland-based multinational pharmaceutical company Novartis, according to DOH statistics.

But with Novartis having delivered 2.14 million doses of H1N1 vaccine to Taiwan, Yaung said, local residents can now decide on their own whether to be vaccinated with the Novartis product or the vaccine produced by Taiwan's Adimmune Corp.

The government has ordered a total of 10 million doses from Adimmune and another 5 million doses from Novartis.

The decision to allow people to make their own choice was expected to encourage more people to be vaccinated before the emergence of a new wave of infections in Taiwan.

Media reports of patients suffering serious side effects from the H1N1 shots has led many to be reluctant to get the H1N1 flu shot, slowing down the domestic immunization program.

A group of opposition Democratic Progressive Party lawmakers paid a visit to Yaung yesterday, during which they urged the DOH to allow local people to choose which vaccine they wanted to enhance the immunization rate.

Yaung seemed to agree with their views as he announced the new measure after his meeting with DPP lawmakers.

Meanwhile, a 25-year-old pregnant woman has been hospitalized with influenza A (H1N1), making her the ninth such case recorded in Taiwan since the outbreak began last year, a Department of Health (DOH) official said yesterday.

The woman in southern Taiwan was 34 weeks into her pregnancy when she began to show flu-like symptoms, such as a fever and sore throat, on Dec. 27, said Shih Wen-yi, deputy director-general of the DOH's Centers for Disease Control.

She tested positive for the H1N1 virus December 28 and her unborn baby was found to have died December 29, Shih said. He added that the woman is recuperating at a hospital after having a stillbirth December 1.

According to Shih, the woman contracted the H1N1 virus from her husband, who was tested positive for the virus a week before the woman showed flu symptoms.

As a certain percentage of pregnant woman may suffer miscarriages, Shih said it remains unknown whether the woman's miscarriage was caused by the H1N1 infection or other factors. The woman had not been immunized against the H1N1 virus.

Chian Daily/CNA

(HK Edition 01/05/2010 page2)