My 20 month old sun is currently in Taiwan, he got one shot of NOVARTIS FOCETRIA
in Europe, only one due to the shortage of the medicine at that time, and now the Dr here in Taiwan don’t want to give him the second shot. For kids from 6mt to 8 years is a second shot recommended.
Does anyone know what vaccination is available in Taiwan?
Some rumors say, the Taiwan own produced vaccination does not have a long enough testing to be called really safe.
Are there Hospitals that also carrie some of the NOVARTIS products?
Are any information available on the current product and side effects on babies?
Thanks for any comment on this.
The shot given here in Taiwan is as safe as the one from abroad, meaning they all have the same advantages and disadvantages: accelerated testing, rushed production. None of the vaccines for H1N1, both in Taiwan and abroad, have had “enough” time for testing, the WHO allowed to accelerate the process due to the “emergency”.
However, Taiwan has more than enough vaccines for innoculation, due to local production not being shared yet with other countries, except about a million donated to WHO.
Most babies here in Taiwan were given Novartis already -their products are readily available at major hospitals-in November, as they were considered a high risk group, but the doctor might not be sure about dosage and kind of used with your baby abroad. The Taiwanese are working with a single shot system -there are both ways of administering, not just one-, so that might be why your pediatrician is a bit hesitant to add a second shot without being completely sure about how the dosage was administered before. Maybe you can produce some documentation of your own and explain your concerns at a big hospital.