New | Vaccine scandal: hundreds involved across 24 provinces in China
Beijing health authorities reassures public that all vaccines sold in the capital’s regulated medical centres are safe
At least 300 people and 24 provinces are involved in the case of improperly stored vaccines illegally sold across China – suggesting that the scale of the problem may be much larger than expected.
On Sunday, eastern Shandong province’s food and drug administration released detailed information of 300 suspects who allegedly either bought the 570 million yuan (HK$680,000) worth of vaccines from or sold them to the mother and daughter at the centre of the case.
The mother, Pang, a 47-year-old former pharmacist, and her daughter, Sun, a medical school graduate, were detained by police last year on suspicion of selling the inadequately refrigerated vaccines, according to local media reports.
They have been charged with operating illegal businesses and are awaiting trial.
The mother and daughter had allegedly been illegally bulk-selling 25 kinds of vaccines, for both adults and children, since 2010.