Chinese police made 37 arrests in China province Shandong following the investigations into the massive illegal trade in vaccines, stored and distributed without adequate refrigeration, which began in 2011 and is capable of generating a turnover of 88 million dollars. The provincial administration on food and drug safety, reports the New China agency, released the list of buyers and sellers involved.
At the head of the organization, a mother and daughter who bought vaccines from authorized and abusive sources, to resell them to illegal agents or local disease control and prevention centers at higher prices: one of the two women, a 47-year-old doctor, is suspected of having placed around 2 million doses on the markets. The premier Li Keqiang asked yesterday to shed light on the scandal and gave instructions to government administrations to provide support to shed light on the matter which, at the moment, has sparked criticism and protests on social networks.
The vaccines, due to bad refrigeration, could cause serious side effects, such as disability and death: there are 12 in all, plus two immunoglobulins and a therapeutic product (including those against polio, rabies, mumps, encephalitis, hepatitis B and meningococcus). The scandal has reinforced widespread fears about the safety of food and medicines, also in consideration of the negative episodes that have occurred in the past: 9 wholesale pharmaceutical retailers have ended up in the investigation, while the prime minister has promised that all government officials guilty of negligence and fraudulently they will be called to answer.
"The vaccine safety incident has caused deep concern and exposed numerous regulatory flaws," Li said, according to official media. Although authorities have known about the incident since last April, the news only became public on Friday when suppliers were asked to help trace potential vaccine victims.
The China Office of the World Health Organisation has offered its help to the local health authorities, especially with regard to the methods of conservation and protection of vaccines.
Wednesday 23 March 2016 – Il Secolo d'Italia
Related news: The vaccine scandal in China
