TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan’s Centers for Disease Control announced Tuesday that approximately 2.12 million publicly funded flu vaccines have been administered over the past two weeks, marking a five-year high.

Amid surging seasonal demand, the CDC said it will purchase an additional 200,000 doses for distribution nationwide. Some will be allocated to disaster-affected areas in Hualien, with the remainder distributed proportionally among other counties and cities. Distribution is expected to be completed by early November, per CNA.

After nine consecutive weeks of rising flu cases, outpatient visits declined last week. Between Oct. 5 and Oct. 11, there were 137,988 influenza-like illness cases reported at outpatient and emergency departments, a 10.2% decrease from 153,725 the previous week, according to the CDC.

CDC Spokesperson Tseng Shu-hui (曾淑慧) said the decline may be due in part to clinic closures during the long National Day holiday. However, emergency room visits still accounted for 13.6% of cases, suggesting continued flu activity.

Laboratory data showed that influenza A (H3N2) remains the dominant strain, followed by influenza A (H1N1) and influenza B.

CDC specialist Tsou Tsung-pei (鄒宗珮) said one of the recent severe flu cases involved a 68-year-old man with cardiovascular and chronic lung disease. He developed severe pneumonia after a week of fever and coughing and later died in intensive care.

Tsou urged those eligible for free vaccination, especially people aged 65 and over, to get vaccinated as soon as possible. The early arrival of this year’s flu season has driven strong public demand, she said.

According to CDC data, 2.12 million vaccine doses have been administered since Oct. 1, up from 1.57 million during the same period last year.