Fengyuan Hospital responds to the public-funded vaccination policy in autumn and winter, giving priority to high-risk groups with influenza and COVID-19 vaccines

2026/10/01 10:18

Fengyuan Hospital of the Ministry of Health and Welfare responded to the public vaccination policy for autumn and winter, and the hospital supervisor took the lead in administering influenza and COVID-19 vaccines. (Provided by Fengyuan Hospital)

[Reporter Ou Sumei/Reporting from Taichung] Autumn and winter are the seasons where respiratory infectious diseases are prone to occur. Influenza and COVID-19 vaccines are available starting today! Fengyuan Hospital of the Ministry of Health and Welfare stated that in the first phase, high-risk groups will be given priority for vaccination, and in the second phase, vaccination will be open to non-high-risk adults aged 50 to 64 from November 2. Eligible people are reminded that they can receive vaccination according to the vaccination schedule and their own health conditions, so as to establish protection in advance for the autumn and winter respiratory disease epidemic period. In compliance with the policy, the hospital also provides influenza, COVID-19 and Streptococcus pneumoniae vaccination services.

The public-funded vaccination targets in the first phase include the elderly over 65 years old, aborigines over 55 years old, care recipients and staff of nursing homes and long-term care institutions, pregnant women, medical and health and epidemic prevention personnel, kindergartens and childcare staff, parents or actual caregivers of babies under 6 months old, etc.; People over 6 months old with underlying diseases, including high-risk chronic diseases, BMI above 30, rare diseases and major injuries and illnesses, are also included in the publicly funded vaccination targets. Influenza vaccines also include elementary school to high school vocational and fifth-grade primary school students in grades one to three, as well as poultry and animal epidemic prevention personnel; for the new crown vaccine, children aged 6 months to under 6 years old are subject to the public-funded vaccination regulations of the current year.

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Zhang Jingren, director of the Family Medicine Department of Fengyuan Hospital, said that temperatures in autumn and winter change greatly, and respiratory viruses such as influenza and COVID-19 enter the active phase. The elderly, patients with chronic diseases, pregnant women and young children are at a relatively higher risk of developing pneumonia, hospitalization or severe illness after infection. In addition, Streptococcus pneumoniae infection may also cause serious complications such as pneumonia, bacteremia, and meningitis for the elderly and high-risk groups. High-risk groups are reminded to complete vaccination as early as possible to increase protection in autumn and winter.

In addition, this year’s publicly funded pneumococcal vaccine for adults will be fully vaccinated with PCV20 or PCV21 starting from August 10, replacing the previous vaccination method of PCV13 with PPV23. The publically funded vaccine targets include the elderly over 65 years old, aborigines aged 55 to 64 years old, and invasive pneumococcal infection (IPD) aged 19 to 64 years old. High-risk groups who have never been vaccinated against pneumococcal vaccine can directly receive 1 dose of PCV20 or PCV21; those who have only been vaccinated with PPV23, PCV13 or PCV15 in the past will be vaccinated according to the type and interval of previous vaccinations, and will be evaluated by a doctor before being vaccinated; if the required vaccination combination has been completed, there is no need to repeat the vaccination.