On December 1, 2009, the 37th meeting held by the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) was convened by the commander-in-chief of CECC, the Vice Premier of the Executive Yuan, Li-Luan Chu.At the meeting, the pandemic influenza A (H1N1) vaccination schedule was discussed.Since there is no vaccine supply shortage, it was decided to move the schedule to vaccinate the eleventh targeted group (adults aged 50 through 64 years) and the twelfth targeted group (healthy adults) on the vaccine priority list forward to December 7, 2009 and December 12, 2009 respectively.

On the other hand, the on-campus vaccination campaign has been proceeded smoothly.Further, beginning December 1, 2009, students can also receive the pandemic influenza A (H1N1) vaccine with either the company of their parents or a signed parental consent form and their national health insurance IC card at any contracted hospital administering the vaccine.The vaccination will be recorded, and the parents and students must remember to inform the school about the vaccination in order to avoid getting the same vaccine at school.

CECC pointed out that the Taiwan Centers for Disease Control (Taiwan CDC) has established a reporting and surveillance mechanism to closely monitor any vaccine adverse event.Taiwan CDC rebutted a recent claim concerning the agency vouching for the reliability of the pharmaceutical company when the agency stated that recent adverse events were not related to the vaccine.Prior to the vaccination campaign, CECC has already established the Vaccine Crisis Management Task Force that deals with any vaccination crisis through immediately organizing meeting of vaccine experts once a vaccine adverse event is reported to determine the cause of the event and decide the appropriate response measures.As of now, two cases of adverse events following vaccination are hospitalized and gradually recovering.

According to the latest epidemic surveillance statistics, the consultation rate for influenza-like illness, the consultation rate to emergency department and the number of hospitalized patients have been on the rise. As of 10 am on December 1, 2009, a total of 1.95 million people in the nation have received the pandemic influenza A (H1N1) vaccine.The immunization coverage rates among infants and elementary school students have both reached over 50%.Comparatively, the immunization coverage rate among pregnant women is less.Approximately over 10,000 pregnant women have received the vaccine.So far, the number of people who have been vaccinated against pandemic influenza A (H1N1) is double the number of people who have been vaccinated against seasonal influenza.