Taipei, June 18 (CNA) Seniors who are in poor health may consider delaying their COVID-19 vaccination, either until their condition improves or until they can avoid risk factors such as long waiting lines and the summer heat, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said Friday.
The CECC's advice, issued just three days after it opened vaccine eligibility to people aged 85 and above, came after 25 deaths were reported among recently vaccinated and mostly elderly individuals.
At a press briefing Friday, Health Minister Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) said CECC experts had discussed the issue that morning, and had recommended that seniors who suffer from chronic illness or are in poor health should wait to be vaccinated until their condition improves.
Chang Shan-chwen (張上淳), who chairs the CECC's expert advisory panel, explained that many of the recent post-vaccination deaths involved long-term users of medication for chronic illnesses, including several who had recently been quite ill.
"People (with these conditions) do not need to rush out to get vaccinated. Particularly in this heat. Going outside to wait in line" puts the body under physical stress, Chang said.
At a legislative hearing earlier that day, Chen said the CECC was investigating whether the deaths were linked to inoculation, but emphasized that the rate of post-vaccination deaths in Taiwan was similar to that of other countries, and did not constitute "a warning signal."
"Currently, the rate of death among recipients of the AstraZeneca vaccine in Taiwan is 20 people per one million, which is comparable to that of AZ and other vaccine brands being used in countries such as the U.K. and South Korea," Chen said.
Meanwhile, Chen said Friday that in order to investigate such cases, the CECC will offer a NT$300,000 (US$10,798) subsidy to the families of people who die after getting vaccinated if they are willing to allow an autopsy to be performed.
Regarding the 25 post-vaccination deaths to date, CECC spokesman Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥) said that 14 were people aged 85 and above, while six were aged 75-84, three were aged 65-74, and two were 64 or under.
Of the total, 22 had a history of chronic illness, five were residents of long-term care facilities, and four were kidney hemodialysis patients, Chuang said.
Currently, results have come back for three of the five autopsies performed on the deceased, which found that two died from arteriosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries, while one died of an aortic aneurysm, Chuang said.
As of Thursday, a total of 1,321,839 doses of COVID-19 vaccines had been administered in Taiwan, out of a population of 23.5 million.
