1st LD-Writethru: Over 130 nabbed for suspected involvement in vaccine scandal

More than 130 people have been apprehended after they were implicated in a high profile vaccine scandal, and 69 criminal cases have been filed nationwide, the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) said Thursday.

A large quantity of improperly stored or expired vaccines had allegedly been sold in more than 20 provincial-level regions since 2011.

Hua Jingfeng, a senior official with the MPS, said at a multi-agency press conference that the vaccines had been sold for 310 million yuan (47.6 million U.S. dollars), rather than 570 million yuan as previously reported, and 20,000 doses have been seized by the authorities.

Investigators are still tracing the flow of the vaccines, Hua added.

Twenty-nine pharmaceutical companies are suspected of involvement in selling the illegal vaccines, and 16 vaccination institutions are suspected of buying them, according to officials at the joint press conference of the MPS, China Food and Drug Administration (CFDA) and National Health and Family Planning Commission.

Three companies in eastern Shandong Province have had their credentials revoked and operation suspended, said Li Guoqing with the CFDA.

Oversights in supervising vaccine distribution remain to be addressed, the officials said, stressing efforts are being made by relevant agencies to improve vaccine distribution, management and procurement mechanisms.

Failing to properly store and transport vaccines cannot be tolerated and constitutes a severe violation of the law, Li said, adding this could possibly affect the effectiveness of the vaccines but not their safety.

Over the past five years, no anomaly has been detected in monitoring data on abnormal responses to vaccination, he said. Endi