The Central Epidemics Command Center (CECC) -- an ad hoc committee organized by the Executive Yuan to tackle the outbreak of swine flu -- announced that the date for swine flu shots for elementary school students will be moved up to Nov. 16, from Dec. 1.

The immunization date for junior high school students will be moved up to Nov. 23 and that for high school students advanced to Nov. 30, according to the CECC.

On Tuesday, Hsieh Kuo-ching, chairman of the National Alliance of Parents Organizations, complained that while the nationwide immunization drive against swine flu kicked off on Nov. 1, waiting until after Dec. 1 to give students shots might not meet the urgent need to avert the spread of the virus.

The demand from the parents' association came as the Department of Health's Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said Tuesday that the number of people seeking medical attention after developing fever has been growing noticeably as the weather is getting cooler.

Of those who were screened through a fast screening process at the hospitals, 95 percent of them were found to have contracted the H1N1 virus, and a majority of these people were elementary and junior high school students, CDC officials said.

The nationwide H1N1 immunization program currently puts priority on vaccinating victims of Typhoon Morakot, as well as medical workers.

To determine whether the priority list should be revised, the epidemics command center will look into factors including the results of clinical trials on minors of the H1N1 vaccine developed by the local pharmaceutical company Adimmune Corp., the company's vaccine production schedule, and the vaccine's distribution nationwide, the center said.

So far only 500 hospitals have been registered to participate in the H1N1 inoculation program, compared to 3,500 hospitals that signed up to offer free shots for seasonal flu.

While only 2.99 million doses of the seasonal flu vaccine are being distributed, the CDC is expecting to give 12 million shots of the H1N1 vaccine by the Chinese New Year holiday in February next year.

That has led health authorities to conclude that there will definitely be insufficient health care workers at the 500 contracted hospitals to carry out the immunization program, according to CDC officials.

A shortage in health workers nationwide was also another factor affecting the smooth implementation of the immunization program, the CDC said.

The DOH has ordered 10 million doses of the vaccine from Taiwan's Adimmune Corp. and another 5 million doses from the multinational pharmaceutical company Novartis to cover an anticipated nationwide demand of 12 million doses.

Due to the spread of H1N1, a total of 936 classes at 511 schools nationwide have been closed as of Monday night, accounting for 0.62 percent of the total, according to CECC statistics.

Hsieh said that as the number of infection cases among elementary and junior high schools continued to rise, the government's contingency "325" policy is creating pressure for parents, teachers and students.

Under the "325" policy announced on Aug. 18, classes at kindergartens, primary schools, junior and senior high schools, as well as cram schools and day-care centers, must be closed for five days to prevent cluster infections, if any two students in the same class are diagnosed with H1N1 within three days.

Parents complained that there is currently no standard policy on when the classes can be made up, with some schools requesting students make up the classes in the evenings, on weekends or during school breaks.

Hsieh urged the Ministry of Education to persuade the CECC to review and change the "325" class closure policy to minimize inconvenience for parents, students and teachers.

To date, Taiwan has recorded 504 hospitalization cases of swine flu, including 27 deaths and 41 people remaining in hospital.

(By Chen Ching-fang and Deborah Kuo)