The influenza epidemic continues to heat up, with the number of flu deaths nationwide reaching a five-year high last week. The epidemic may peak around the Mid-Autumn Festival. Health Director Zeng Zizhan said that Taichung City's publicly funded influenza and COVID-19 vaccines this year will be launched in two phases starting from October 1. From October 1, 11 groups including the elderly over 65 years old, children from 6 months to under 18 years old, and students will be vaccinated.
Zeng Zizhan pointed out that this year (2026) the publicly funded influenza vaccine uses trivalent vaccines, including type A H1N1, H3N2 and type B Victoria strains. There are five brands of standard vaccines: Toyo, GSK, Sanofi, Guoguang and high-end. Among them, Toyo, GSK and Sanofi are suitable for people over 6 months old, and Guoguang and high-end are suitable for people over 3 years old.
The vaccine follows the "first-in, first-out" principle stipulated by the central government and does not accept designated brands. Before vaccination, people can first inquire with medical institutions about the vaccine brands provided on that day.
This autumn and winter, the publicly funded influenza and COVID-19 vaccines continue the strategy of "protecting the lungs and caring for the heart" and are launched in two phases. In the first phase, starting from October 1, there are 11 categories of publicly funded vaccination targets, including elderly people over 65 years old, aboriginal people over 55 years old, and care recipients and staff in nursing homes and long-term care institutions. Workers, pregnant women, medical and health and epidemic prevention personnel, kindergarten and childcare institution staff, home care workers, parents or actual caregivers of infants under 6 months old, children over 6 months old and before entering elementary school, people with underlying diseases, students, and personnel in livestock-related industries and animal epidemic prevention.
Zeng Zizhan pointed out that those with potential diseases include high-risk chronic patients, those with a BMI greater than or equal to 30, rare diseases and patients with serious injuries; students are vaccinated including elementary school, junior high school, high school vocational and fifth-grade students in grades 1 to 3. Students will mainly be vaccinated on campus. If they are unable to participate for some reason, they can go to a medical institution for vaccination with a supplementary vaccination notice.
In the second phase, starting from November 2, vaccination will be open to general adults aged 50 to 64 who do not have high-risk chronic diseases; for the new crown vaccine, children aged 6 months to under 6 years old will be vaccinated, and those who have not received the new crown vaccine in the past will be vaccinated.
This year, multiple vaccination channels will be provided, including vaccine reservation systems, community vaccination stations, health clinics, medical institutions, campuses and long-term care institutions, etc. There are 625 districts in Taichung City. In principle, except for a few districts, vaccination stations will be set up in all districts. If there is a need for group vaccination in various workplaces, medical personnel can also be arranged to provide services.
