No decision has been made on whether the government will recommend a shot of new COVID-19 vaccines targeting the currently dominant XBB variants this year. That’s according to head of Taiwan’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) Lee Ping-ing (李秉穎), who made the comments during a radio interview on Thursday.
The comments come as vaccine manufacturers such as Moderna and others are already developing vaccines targeting the XBB variants.
Lee emphasizes that a large-scale spread of the virus will continue to affect society for 5 to 10 years. He says that the main risk groups include the elderly, people with comorbidities and underlying conditions, and the unvaccinated. He says around 10% of the population remains unvaccinated, leaving their risk of severe illness much higher.
Taiwan is currently facing the peak of the fourth wave of COVID-19 infections and last week saw an increase in the number of deaths. Since the number of deaths is a delayed indicator, Taiwan’s CDC predicts that deaths will still increase in the future. Lee says that the number of infections will likely slow down in July since hot weather is unfavorable for the spread of the virus.