Irritation and anger are mounting over a shortage of vaccines in Guangdong province, according to reports, with some parents heading to Hong Kong and Macau to have their children vaccinated.
Officials have stated that the shortage is the result of a central government plan to tighten the drug importation system and vaccination programs, which, you know, occasionally falls victim to ‘bad vaccines,’ as reported earlier this year. Due to the stricter importation rules, numerous pharmaceutical companies have allegedly halted vaccine imports to China.
According to a Yibada report, Pfizer, a pharmaceutical company that previously imported the pneumonia vaccine Prevenar to China, did not receive a renewal for its importation license, although the circumstances around this particular case are not immediately clear.
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Permit cancelations have reportedly contributed substantially to the vaccine shortage and Chinese parents have been left to hunt country-wide to try and find the appropriate shots.
With the decrease in imported drugs, local manufacturers are having a hard time keeping up with the massive need for vaccines, in particular the Type 1 vaccine – a mandatory government injection that is free. The Dongguan Center for Disease Control’s website has stated that vaccines will not be available until next month.
Yangcheng Evening News quoted one Guangzhou parent as saying: "I have been calling the community clinic time and time again since May, and they always tell me that the vaccine is out of stock."
The central government is allegedly doing everything they can to help alleviate the vaccine crisis, with President Xi Jinping stating that “protecting people’s health is a priority.”
In an effort to fix the shortage, Beijing instituted a temporary rule last month that allows vaccine producers to provide directly to county-level disease control and prevention centers, according to South China Morning Post. The rule will remain valid until the end of the year.
As mentioned above, illegal vaccines have been an ongoing problem in the PRC and, in a recent crackdown, authorities arrested 37 people for selling “tainted or improperly stored” vaccines.
READ MORE: Vaccine Manufacturers Forced to Suspend Production After 2 Babies Killed
[Image via SCMP]
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