Over 650,000 faulty vaccine doses recalled in China

More than 650,000 doses of a vaccine regularly given to babies and young children have been recalled in China after they were found to be ineffective, state media reported.

The doses of the DPT vaccine have been withdrawn in Shandong and Hebei provinces, and Chongqing municipality.

The vaccine immunises against diphtheria, whooping cough and tetanus.

The National Institute for Food and Drug Control discovered the vaccines were not working properly during sample inspections.

Chinese parents demand names of clinics in vaccine scandal

Some of the vaccines had already been shipped and used before the recall, but the government said they were not harmful to health, Xinhua reported.

The authorities are investigating the incident and it could result in prosecutions, according to the article.

China’s food and drug administration said parents concerned their children took the vaccine could call a hotline for more information.

China has been giving children free DPT vaccines since the 1970s and has nearly eradicated the three illnesses, state media reported.

The recalled vaccine doses were produced in three batches by two factories last year.

Changchun Changsheng Biotech produced one batch, or roughly one third of the overall vaccines, and sold them to the government-operated Disease Prevention and Control Centre in the eastern province of Shandong, state media reported.

2 million Chinese mothers carry strep bacteria that can be fatal to newborns, study finds

The other two batches were manufactured by the Wuhan Institute of Biological Products, a subsidiary of state-owned China National Pharmaceutical Group. They were shipped to disease control centres in Chongqing and Hebei, according to the reports.