China President Xi Orders Vaccine Manufacturer Investigation

China President Xi Jinping ordered Chinese authorities on July 23, 2018, to launch an immediate investigation into a vaccine manufacturer’s sale of substandard vaccines for diphtheria, pertussis, and tetanus (DPT).

Additionally, President Xi said ‘to punish those responsible,’ according to reporter Li Rongde, Xinhua News Agency.

In response to this statement, police in Changchun, Jilin province, where Changchun Changsheng Life Sciences Ltd., is based, announced that they have arrested 4 company executives, including Chairwoman Gao Junfang.

The news comes after PrecisionVaccinations.com reported Changchun Changsheng was ordered to stop making its vaccines after it was found to have tampered with production data.

Substandard vaccines from Changchun Changsheng have been administered to children in 8 cities in Shandong, including the provincial capital of Jinan, and in Zibo, according to the Shandong Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

China health authorities in Shandong province have traced all 252,600 doses of the substandard DTP vaccine and reported no further cases of abnormal reactions in children who received the drug, according to Qilu Evening News.

The China Food and Drug Administration (CFDA) said it will begin unscheduled inspections at all vaccine manufacturers in China as it looks into violations at Changchun Changsheng.

China has been plagued by vaccine manufacturing recalls before.

During November 2017,  Wuhan Institute of Biological Products Co. Ltd. sold more than 400,000 doses of substandard DPT vaccines, reported the CFDA.