TAIPEI: A list of 548 health care institutions authorized to give swine flu vaccine shots was promulgated yesterday as an island-wide immunization program designed to help avert the spread of the virus got underway.

The designated institutions include 332 local government-run health stations and 216 hospitals and clinics around Taiwan, said Chou Chih-hao, deputy director-general of the Centers for Disease Control under the Department of Health (DOH).

Chou said the government has procured 15 million doses of H1N1 vaccine, which should be enough to meet the domestic immunization plan. The foreign supplier Novartis has delivered the first batch of 370,000 doses to Taiwan and delivery of locally-produced doses will begin in mid-November.

Vaccine for swine flu, officially known as influenza A(H1N1), will be given in accordance with a DOH-sanctioned priority list, Chou said, advising local citizens to get shots at the venues on dates specified in the notices to be issued by city or county health bureau.

According to the priority list, Typhoon Morakot-affected people and health care personnel are the first to get vaccinated.

While immunization for typhoon survivors residing in provisional settlement centers around Taiwan kicked off Sunday, medical staff at health care institutions also began to get shots yesterday.

Chou said the CDC has allocated 220,000 doses of H1N1 vaccine for medical staff in charge of disease control and prevention.

H1N1 vaccine for toddlers aged between 6 months and 1 year of age is scheduled to begin on November 9, Chou said. Amid signs of a new wave of H1N1 infections, Chou said immunization for elementary school children and students at junior and senior high schools should be able to begin on December 1.

The Taiwan University Hospital began to administer swine flu shots for its medical staff members yesterday. With a staff of more than 3,000, the hospital has received the first batch of 1,000 doses from the DOH.

A spokesman for Veterans General Hospital in suburban Taipei said the hospital has been given 2,000 doses and that an estimated 80 percent of its nearly 4,000 staff members are expected to receive inoculations.

China Daily/CNA

(HK Edition 11/03/2009 page2)