Tainted vaccine: Error admitted
By Chen Xingjie and Li Xinran |
March 23, 2010, Tuesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
A NORTH China province embroiled in an inoculation scandal that may have led to the deaths of four children and severely sickened dozens of others admitted yesterday that the hiring process of a vaccine supplier was deeply flawed.
The Beijing-based Huawei Shidai Co paid a 500,000 yuan (US$73,245) deposit to enter the Shanxi market and was given sole supplier rights, three spokesmen for the Shanxi government told a press conference - an extremely brief and terse press conference.
They said no formal bidding process was undertaken for the contract.
Li Wenyuan, then-director of the Shanxi Center for Disease Control and Prevention, used 270,000 yuan of the deposit to buy a car for personal use, they said. Li, who retired at the end of last year, is now on an Australian holiday.
However, no details of any investigations were revealed at the 10-minute conference by the officials, including the province's deputy secretary general.
Deputy publicity director Yang Bo abruptly ended the conference when reporters started to ask difficult questions.
A Health Ministry task force is investigating claims about tainted vaccines in Shanxi and will seek out about 80 children apparently affected.
Eight medical experts arrived in Shanxi to guide the local health authority's inquiries, according to a Shanxi official.
The investigation will determine whether the vaccines were spoiled after being exposed to heat due to poor storage.
Some parents and Chen Tao'an, a former official with the Shanxi disease control center who lifted the lid on the scandal, said they had received messages from a strange phone number threatening to injure them, yesterday's Guangzhou Daily reported.
The messages read: "Our boss will give you 50,000 yuan if you stop complaining about the vaccines, or it will be very easy for us to find someone to cut off your leg."
The vaccination accusations were first reported last Wednesday by China Economic Times. According to that report, four babies in Shanxi died and another 76 became ill after being jabbed against hepatitis B, rabies and Type-B encephalitis.
The vaccines may have been tainted by poor storage and some shots were given in the wrong season, Chen said.
The Shanxi Health Department initially vehemently denied the report.
The Beijing-based Huawei Shidai Co paid a 500,000 yuan (US$73,245) deposit to enter the Shanxi market and was given sole supplier rights, three spokesmen for the Shanxi government told a press conference - an extremely brief and terse press conference.
They said no formal bidding process was undertaken for the contract.
Li Wenyuan, then-director of the Shanxi Center for Disease Control and Prevention, used 270,000 yuan of the deposit to buy a car for personal use, they said. Li, who retired at the end of last year, is now on an Australian holiday.
However, no details of any investigations were revealed at the 10-minute conference by the officials, including the province's deputy secretary general.
Deputy publicity director Yang Bo abruptly ended the conference when reporters started to ask difficult questions.
A Health Ministry task force is investigating claims about tainted vaccines in Shanxi and will seek out about 80 children apparently affected.
Eight medical experts arrived in Shanxi to guide the local health authority's inquiries, according to a Shanxi official.
The investigation will determine whether the vaccines were spoiled after being exposed to heat due to poor storage.
Some parents and Chen Tao'an, a former official with the Shanxi disease control center who lifted the lid on the scandal, said they had received messages from a strange phone number threatening to injure them, yesterday's Guangzhou Daily reported.
The messages read: "Our boss will give you 50,000 yuan if you stop complaining about the vaccines, or it will be very easy for us to find someone to cut off your leg."
The vaccination accusations were first reported last Wednesday by China Economic Times. According to that report, four babies in Shanxi died and another 76 became ill after being jabbed against hepatitis B, rabies and Type-B encephalitis.
The vaccines may have been tainted by poor storage and some shots were given in the wrong season, Chen said.
The Shanxi Health Department initially vehemently denied the report.
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