This year’s government-funded seasonal influenza vaccination campaign will launch on October 1. Infants and children are high-risk individuals. Since children below the age of 6 months are not appropriate for influenza vaccination and childcare facilities and kindergartens are prone to influenza clusters, the Taiwan Centers for Disease Control (Taiwan CDC) has decided to include new target groups: parents of babies aged below 6 months as well as kindergarten caretakers and childcare professionals for this year’s seasonal influenza vaccination campaign, indirectly protecting infants and children and benefiting approximately 200,000 parents and 50,000 kindergarten caretakers and child care professionals.
Parents of babies aged below 6 months need to bring their ID card, National Health Insurance IC card, as well as the household registration transcript that showed the baby’s birth registration or the baby’s birth certificate for influenza vaccination at a local health center regardless of where the household was registered or a contracted healthcare provider.
Influenza vaccination of kindergarten caretakers, including the headmaster, teaching staff, caregivers, and assistant caregivers, and child care professionals, including supervisors, child care providers, childcarers and assistant childcarers, will be arranged by the local competent authority and the local health bureau.