Repeat vaccine calls spark panic in Shandong parents

Amid China’s growing vaccine scandal, some parents in East China’s Shandong Province were shocked by a phone call from a local hospital asking them to get repeat dosages even if the vaccine used by their children was previously considered safe.

Shandong’s disease control center has promised to provide repeat dosages to children injected with substandard diphtheria-pertussis-tetanus (DPT) vaccines produced by Changsheng Biotechnology Corporation.

However, a mother of two children from Jinan, capital of Shandong, who declined to be named, told the Global Times that her child was given three doses of DPT vaccines in the summer of 2017, but none of them belong to the batch of the substandard vaccine the government had exposed.

She claimed to have received a phone call from the Shandong provincial maternal and child health hospital, who suggested that her child get a repeat dosage “for the child’s sake.”

When the mother asked why her child needs a repeat dosage, she was told that the dose given to her child was also substandard, and the incorrect batch number was a “typing mistake.” The mother said her friend received a similar phone call.

An employee from the hospital’s publicity department told the Global Times that the hospital provided parents a detailed explanation and suggested they come to the hospital for further consultations if there is any misunderstanding. The employee declined to disclose more details.

The center failed to respond to an interview request from the Global Times.

The mother suspects the situation is more serious than they thought, claiming “other batches of vaccines might be also substandard.”

Shandong’s disease control center’s website said 252,600 doses of substandard vaccines the company produced were distributed to eight cities and used on 215,184 children.

The center said no increase in abnormal reactions has been detected. It added that 96.93 percent of the children who received the substandard vaccine have been given a vaccine produced by other drug companies since then.

Last week, the center claimed to have stopped injections after discovering substandard vaccines in November, and thoroughly tracked down their whereabouts and where they were stored, and the victims’ information within three days.