Heads rolling in China over vaccine scandal

Officials are facing swift action in China over a vaccine scandal that has hit stocks and risked undermining public confidence in healthcare in the country.

China’s State Council’s investigators have been probing not just Changchun Changsheng Bio-tech, the company responsible for the illegal production of rabies vaccines, but also local government officials and supervisory departments.

Changsheng Bio-tech reportedly used expired materials in some vaccine batches and falsified data, including batch numbers and production dates. The company, which produces about 23% of China’s rabies vaccines, was fined 3.4 million renminbi ($502,200) and ordered to halt all rabies vaccine production and recall flawed doses.