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O n On Sunday, 27-year-old Mo Li was walking around Weibo when she saw the news: 250,000 defective vaccines had been given to children in the province where she and her husband were raising their only child.
"It was like an explosion in my head," says Mo, who lives in the port city of Weihai, in Shandong Province. "My only thought was" please not my son, please do not please my son, "she says, describing her thoughts while researching the health records of her 17 months. [19659004] The serial number of his vaccination book the batch in question, made by one of the largest vaccine manufacturers in China, Changsheng Biotechnology.Mo looked at his son, Congcong, asleep, and felt awful, then in
"I thought of all the people involved, from the vaccine company to the regulators. They can not be called humans. Like Mo, thousands of parents across China have been quick to find answers this week after their children have received defective vaccines as part of a state-sponsored vaccination program, using Changsheng products. The incident sparked one of the country's largest public calls in years, which authorities and censors have struggled to contain.
Changsheng, a private company based in Jilin Province, is undergoing multiple investigations to inventory a rabies vaccine. and the sale of at least 250,000 non-compliant DPT vaccines – for diphtheria, whooping cough and tetanus – at Shandong health clinics. Senior officials were placed in custody while the Chinese graffiti investigation agency said it would investigate.
Chinese President Xi Jinping, who rarely comments on such cases, promised that the government would "investigate to the end." "It is necessary to quickly release the progress of the investigation and respond effectively to the concerns of the people," he said, according to Chinese state media on Monday.
A recurring problem
There were no reports of injuries caused by defective vaccines and officials promised to children would receive new vaccines. But public confidence has reached a new low: people say they've heard that before.
While China has expanded its immunization program over the past decade, substandard vaccines have been a recurring problem. In 2016, $ 90 million worth of vaccines were found improperly stored in Shandong Province. The previous year, hundreds of children from Henan Province had become ill after receiving expired vaccines. In 2010, a newspaper in Shanxi Province reported that non-refrigerated vaccines killed four children
<img class = "gu-image" itemprop = "contentUrl" alt = "A hospital worker walks past a poster containing Information on the Rabies Vaccine in Beijing, China Vaccine in Beijing, China Photograph: Ng Han Guan / AP
Many recall another public health crisis in 2008 when contaminated milk powder killed six infants and left another 300,000 sick. Officials first tried to conceal the incident. In the case of Changsheng, the inspectors discovered the substandard vaccines last year, but they were not removed until this month.
Patrick Poon, a researcher for Amnesty International in China, says: "The vaccine scandal once again shows the Chinese government's failure to apply and monitor the health care industry. health, even after years of reporting on other cases. "
Angry parents, like Mo, were emboldened. On Monday, she and a group of mothers confronted doctors at the local health clinic. They wanted to know if the defective vaccines were dangerous, if they needed new ones, and if so, how to make sure they would not hurt them.
They were told: wait for official instructions. The group stayed at the clinic for two hours before leaving. "We do not accept any excuses, we do not want compensation, we just want our babies to be healthy!" Posted online
Censors fight against the "destructive elements"
On social networks, censors have failed to stem the flood of criticism. According to Weiboscope, a Hong Kong University project that monitors censorship, "vaccine" was one of the most restrictive words on Weibo Sunday and Monday. On Tuesday, hashtags were viewed more than 600 million times
A survey on Weibo asked if people would use vaccines made in China in the future: 90% of more than 700 respondents chose the answer: " I would not dare to use them again. "
Such an open public debate will probably be allowed to last only for so long. The official Global Times newspaper said Tuesday in an editorial: "If there is no management of public opinion, it can get into trouble and lead the country to chaos. We must have the ability to prevent the online spread of destructive elements. " [19659004QiJingunpèrecélibataireàChongqingdanslesud-ouestdelaChineditquesafilledetroisansareçudesvaccinsdeChangshengetuneautresociétéimpliquéecetteannéepourdesvaccinsdéfectueuxWuhanInstituteofBiologicalProductsSuiteàlanouvelledescontrefaçonsdeChangshengilaorganiséungrouped'environ60parentspourdemanderdesinformationsIlaétéarrêtécettesemaineetinterrogéparlapolice
"At the moment, the Government of concealment and control the & # 39; Make public n & # 39;. Any sound is difficult," said Qi. He added that the police advised his group to focus on business rather than government.
"The fault lies first and foremost with the regulators, since they were dealing with public health as they should, the companies could not produce counterfeit products and would not have to go to court. other choice than to be responsible. "
For now, parents have no choice but to continue to immunize their children by Chinese law. is not sure what to do, but she and her husband made a decision
"After that, I definitely have no more children. I can not protect two of them when I'm not even able to protect one. "
Additional report by Wang Xueying
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