With wintertime respiratory virus cases continuing to rise, experts urge the public not to underestimate the threat and get vaccinated as soon as possible. Leading experts remain concerned that the most recent strain of coronavirus is not being treated more seriously.
Taiwan’s three most prevalent diseases currently include influenza, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and COVID-19. However, as cases continue to worsen, the latter has received less attention– often treated with the same regard as the flu, despite a much higher mortality rate.
Linkou Chang Gung Memorial Hospital Vice Superintendent Dr. Chiu Cheng-hsun (邱政洵) emphasized on Friday that both the hospitalization rate and severe infection rate of the new coronavirus strain are still higher than those of the flu– with the risk of severe illness alone ten times higher. There is also the risk of long-COVID; approximately one in four coronavirus sufferers contract long-COVID with more severe cases even more likely to develop long-term symptoms. Chiu urged the public, especially high-risk groups, to get the JN.1 vaccine as soon as possible.
Vaccines offer long-term protection as T-cell immunity remains even after the three to six months of vaccine antibodies decline. Further, any breakthrough infections that occur show milder symptoms, and therefore a lower risk of developing long-COVID.
CDC spokesperson Tseng Shu-hui (曾淑慧) pointed out that COVID vaccines can reduce severe and acute symptoms by around 60% across all age groups, according to international studies. He added that research suggests getting both a COVID and Flu vaccine at the same time does not increase your risk of an adverse vaccine reaction, and will more importantly protect against two of the most major respiratory infections in Taiwan.
