《TAIPEI TIMES》 AstraZeneca vaccine not mandatory, CECC says

By Lee I-chia / Staff reporter

Many countries are still administering the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, although a few have suspended vaccinations after reports of blood clots, and healthcare workers in Taiwan can choose freely if they want to get the jab, the Central Epidemic Command Center （CECC） said yesterday.

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Centers for Disease Control （CDC） Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang （莊人祥）, who is the CECC’s spokesman, said that a few European countries have stopped administering AstraZeneca shots after reports of blood clots, adding that the European Medicines Agency （EMA） is investigating the cases.

“So far, the EMA’s recommendation is that the vaccine’s benefits continue to outweigh its risks, and there is currently no indication that the thromboembolic events were caused by vaccination,” he said.

Nonetheless, the CECC would continue to pay close attention to developments in the EMA’s assessment, he added.

Many countries continue to administer the AstraZeneca vaccine, including Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Mexico, South Korea and the UK, he said, adding that the WHO has suggested that the shot should continue to be administered.

Asked if healthcare workers in Taiwan can opt out of getting the jab due to blood clot fears following a willingness survey conducted at hospitals, Chuang said: “The survey is for the center’s reference only, and whether they want to get vaccinated is still up to them. We will not force them to get the shot.”

The ratio of reported severe allergic reaction cases following COVID-19 vaccination in the UK is about 17.9 per 1 million AstraZeneca vaccine shots and about 21.2 per 1 million Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine shots, so they could be considered “rare events” for both vaccines, Chuang said.

Separately yesterday, the CECC reported one new imported case of COVID-19 in Taiwan.

Chuang said the case is a South African woman in her 20s who came to Taiwan for work on Feb. 19.

She tested negative for COVID-19 on Feb. 20 and again before completing centralized quarantine on March 4, he said.

She moved to another residence on March 6 to practice self-health management and took a paid test for COVID-19 at a hospital on Friday, which came back positive, he added.

The cycle threshold values from the test and another test on Saturday were 34 and 37 respectively, indicating low viral loads, Chuang said.

The woman on Saturday tested negative for IgM antibodies and positive for IgG antibodies, indicating a past infection, he said.

新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES