130 people held by police, 20,000 doses seized in joint probe
More Chinese parents, disappointed by the latest scandal where tens of millions worth of improperly stored vaccines were sold to two-thirds of China, are eyeing imported vaccines for inoculation and seeking consultation from high-end private hospitals.
Inquiries about vaccination have seen a rise after the scandal, Fu Xinchen, a representative from the New Century International Children's Hospital in Beijing, told the Global Times on Thursday.
Fu said many had phoned to inquire about the hospital's purchasing channels and whether the manufacturers and vaccine distributors are licensed.
Many such private hospitals' customers choose imported vaccines despite them being sold for over 1,000 yuan ($151) per dose, seven to 10 times more expensive than domestic ones.
Similarly, Hong Kong-based Takungpao newspaper also reported Thursday that many parents in Shandong Province, who have lost confidence in domestically made vaccines, said they would choose imported vaccines in the future.
The scandal, where a mother and daughter in Shandong Province were caught selling 25 kinds of vaccines in bulk - including inoculations for polio, mumps, rabies, hepatitis B, encephalitis and meningococcal diseases - to 24 provinces and regions, has prompted a furious backlash from Chinese parents on the Internet.
Though many of the vaccines were purchased from licensed manufacturers, they were not refrigerated during redistribution as required, leaving many fearing that the vaccines were compromised.
Growing concern
To address the growing public concern over the vaccines, China's Ministry of Public Security (MPS), the National Health and Family Planning Commission (NHFPC) and the China Food and Drug Administration (CFDA) jointly held a media conference on Thursday afternoon.
So far, the identities of 87 people involved in the illegal vaccine trade have been confirmed, according to Li Guoqing, head of the Department of Drug and Cosmetics Supervision at the CFDA.
A total of 29 pharmaceutical companies have been found allegedly involved in the illegal trade and 16 vaccination institutions allegedly purchased illegal vaccines, Li said.
Sixty-nine criminal cases have been filed across the country and over 130 people have been held by police for suspected involvement in the illegal vaccine trade, Hua Jingfeng, a senior official with the MPS, said Thursday.
The vaccines involved in the case had been sold for 310 million yuan ($47.6 million), rather than 570 million yuan as previously reported, according to Hua.
Most of the vaccines involved had been used, with 20,000 doses seized and sealed by authorities, Hua was quoted by the Xinhua News Agency as saying.
Experts cautioned that imported vaccines may not be safer or more effective than domestic ones and said that a loss of public confidence may have prompted parents to choose imported vaccines.
Zeng Guang, chief epidemiologist at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, told the Global Times that some people are hesitant to get vaccinated. "There's a problem because the public's trust [in relevant authorities] is eroding," he noted.
Other food and drug scandals in the past have prompted Chinese parents to choose foreign brands over domestic products.
In 2008, milk products and baby formula produced by a famous Chinese diary manufacturer were found to be tainted with a toxic substance called melamine, which had been intentionally added to milk products by the manufacturers to meet certain standards on protein content.
After the milk scandal, many parents in China started buying overseas dairy products in bulk so much that the Hong Kong government had to set a restriction on how many cans each Chinese mainland visitor could buy in response to local protests.
