Arrests of the third Chinese vaccination scandal in three years

The so-called DKT vaccines, a cocktail of pathogens, should protect children against diphtheria, pertussis and tetanus. A quarter of a million of these vaccines had already been sold to Shandong Province for vaccination campaigns. Hundreds of thousands of children had already received a shot when it turned out that they did not meet the requirements.

For this, the company has so far been fined more than 400,000 euros. A derisory sum for a company that made a profit of more than 70 million euros last year and, according to the South China Morning Post, 6 million euros of government subsidies.

Police arrested five company officials for questioning. This includes CEO and multi-billionaire Gao Junfang

Under-occupation

The South China Morning Post believes that tighter controls and tougher penalties are needed to force drug manufacturers to comply with all production standards. China produces about one billion vaccines a year. According to the newspaper, the government has too few qualified personnel to carry out quality checks on all medicines.

In addition, inspectors must rely on data provided by the drug manufacturers themselves. Last week, it turned out that Changsheng had falsified the rabies vaccine documents.

Mistrust and Anger

Due to earlier scandals, many Chinese people do not trust Chinese medicines and food. Six years ago, six babies died and another 300,000 children became ill after drinking toxic baby milk.

Another company sold 400,000 DKT vaccines that did not meet the standard last year. In the previous year, the authorities closed another illegal circuit that sold vaccines whose expiration date had expired.

It causes great anger and agitation among young parents because all children are vaccinated with a DKT vaccine. Some parents vaccinate their children with vaccines from abroad or go to Hong Kong or Japan for a jab.

But this is only reserved for the wealthiest Chinese. People with a smaller portfolio are still dependent on government immunization programs.

& # 39; Shocking & # 39; and & # 39; abominable & # 39;

The latest scandal is a big blow for the Chinese government, which wants to take international action with the medical industry. This explains why the government, until President Xi Jinping, so harshly condemns the scandal.

President Xi calls it "shocking" and "abominable" that the vaccine maker violated the law. A thorough investigation should clarify the situation and the government wants to severely punish the guilty.