Babies can get H1N1, seasonal flu shots together

Lin Ting, deputy director-general of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said the number of babies eligible for the vaccinations has been estimated at between 100,000 and 150,000, with the shots available at 548 locations around the country, such as local county or city health departments and district health centers.

For the two-dose H1N1 vaccination, babies need to receive the shots a month apart, he added.

He also stressed that babies allergic to eggs should not be given the shots as they could trigger an allergic reaction.

Typhoon Morakot-affected people and health care personnel were earlier given top priority by the government for A(H1N1) vaccinations and have been receiving the shots since the beginning of November.

Next on the list after the infants aged under 1 year are pre-school children aged over 1 year, seriously ill patients and elementary school students, who are scheduled to receive the shots from Nov. 16.

Others on the priority list are junior and senior high school students, individuals in the 19-24 age bracket and those over 25 at high risk of cardiopulmonary disease, healthy people in the 25-49 age bracket, and people between 50 and 64 years old, in that order.

Public reaction to the free vaccinations was varied in different parts of the country. In Taipei, many parents with babies began lining up at district health centers early Monday for the shots.

The same occurred in southern Taiwan's Chiayi City, despite the city health bureau assuring that parents need not worry about insufficient doses of H1N1 vaccine.

However, in southern Taiwan's Kaohsiung City, where 8,000 babies are eligible, uptake was small.

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