BEIJING - No more side effects have been detected among the patients vaccinated with suspected illegal vaccines, an official at the National Health and Family Planning Commission (NHFPC) said Wednesday.
According to Xiong Huang, spokesperson of the NHFPC, the observation was based on the analyses made by medical experts with a state-level database on vaccines.
The commission has been working with local health departments to crack down on illegal vaccines, Xiong added, calling for local departments to report more information on the whereabouts of the illegal vaccines.
It was revealed last week that "problematic vaccines" either improperly stored or expired worth over 570 million yuan ($88 million) had been sold illegally in 20 provincial-level regions since 2011.
The case involves 12 vaccines, 2 immune globulin and one therapeutic product allegedly sold by a mother and daughter, who were arrested in Shandong Province last week and are in police custody.
Also, China Food and Drug Administration (SDA) announced on Wednesday that it was the salesmen at pharmaceutical companies that provided the suspects with illegal vaccines. So far, 12 have been discovered.
The investigation on illegal vaccines is set to conclude with a report to the SDA before Saturday.
The suspects allegedly purchased 25 types of vaccine from more than 100 pharmaceutical salesmen, both licensed and unlicensed and sold them to illegal agents or even local disease control and prevention centers at high prices, according to Jinan police in Shandong.
A circular released by Hangzhou Centers for Disease Control (CDC) on March 22 said 16 centers at the district and county levels and vaccination clinics did not buy vaccines from people involved in the Shandong scandal.
All vaccines were purchased from the provincial disease control and prevention center in Zhejiang.
Vaccines are required to be adequately refrigerated, transported and stored in appropriate conditions. Hangzhou related bodies have monitored and ensured that they stored in appropriate conditions.
A mother and daughter from East China's Shandong province have been arrested for allegedly selling improperly stored or expired vaccines worth 570 million yuan ($88 million) since 2010.
The police said they have already started to trace all the children and adults in 18 provinces that used the suspects' vaccines in order to give them the correct medications.
