Not sure if the news is buried in a Covid topic somewhere so perhaps best to have it’s own thread.
Influenza vaccine are now available in Taiwan, just got mine at a local clinic yesterday. If you fall into one of the vulnerable (currently 6 months to senior high school level; seniors over 64 years of age; and those with high-risk, chronic, rare, and serious diseases or severe injuries) groups they are free to you, there is no choice of vaccine type, it’s whatever is available at the time. Next round of free to you are people aged 50-64 on Nov. 15th.
For self pay it’s NT$1,000 for GSK which seems to be the only self pay available at the moment. I seen references to an imported German vaccine for NT1500 but did not see anywhere with stock.
On the other hand, there will be a lot less influenza due to all the COVID restrictions. It’s already believed the pandemic has caused a couple strains to go extinct.
Yeah , I think so too; I have never had a reverse reaction to the Flu one. I think @BiggusDickus is over 50 , and you work with I guess hundreds of students in a close environment.
I remember there was a nasty flu strain in Taiwan a couple of years back, a lot of people got that one.
There’s also the possibility that we won’t have a significant flu season again like last winter, if the social distancing measures continue. Although I think we’re getting a lot more people entering Taiwan now.
This. The social distancing thing in taiwan is a joke.
Masks, or sonply everyone covering their mouths (not with the hand) does a lot. People forget, and taiwanese chew and talk thus spewing food and saliva all over on the regular. So i bet the mask thing and no shared table meals has stopped a lot. Not saying its absolutely necessary. The real question is after all this panic, does the public actually learn anything about sanitation. My guess is not. But i sincerely hope i am wrong.
I went to the 10/10 fireworks celebration in Kaohsiung last night and it was more jam-packed with oceans of people, shoulder to shoulder, than any concert I’ve been to.
So yes, zero social distancing. Then again, we’ve had 1 wild case of COVID in the whole country in the last two weeks, and none in Kaohsiung in at least two months, so imo people should be allowed to resume their lives, including the festivals and celebrations they used to enjoy during the “before times.”
There has to be some logical explanation as to why there was no flu last winter. Either it didn’t come into the country, or it was suppressed while it was here.
It’s a numbers game, of course. I’m not sure of the number of people coming in compared to last year.
A flu epidemic will have very high death rates because all the vulnerable who would have died last winter or because of Covid will die of flu. Assuming they’re still being kept alive.
Seeing that as I am back in Australia for a while, and of course with the seasons swapped around, I went and had a Flu shot on Thursday - after talking to the Doctor first as my last one was on November 1 in Taiwan. So I had the jab, and for the first time that I can recall, it gave me grief. About 6 hours after I had lost all energy and needed to crash out, and slept for 5 hours, woke up semi ok, but only lasted another 2h before it clobbered me again. I was back to normal within 24 hours which was good.
For Info, the brand was “Fluad Quad” which is the stronger one designed for us oldies 65+.
My son missed the flu shot at his school because he was sick. So, now I need to take him to get a shot, but I don’t think I have the time during the week when clinics are open.
Are there any Saturday clinics? I don’t mind if they charge a fee.
