16 Infants Die in China After Taking Hepatitis B Vaccine

16 infants are dead after receiving vaccines in China over the last month, but because of ties with authorities the vaccine companies needn’t worry about repercussions.
16 Infants Die in China After Taking Hepatitis B Vaccine
A child receives a vaccination shot at a hospital in Huaibei in China's eastern Anhui province on July 26, 2018. - China's drug regulator said it has launched a nationwide inspection of vaccine production as authorities step up the response to a fraud case that has re-ignited public fears over the safety of the country's medicines. (Photo by - / AFP) / China OUT Photo credit should read -/AFP via Getty Images
Updated:

In China, 16 cases of infant death after vaccination were reported in December; 14 of those fatalities involved the hepatitis B vaccine. China has a free Hep B vaccine program for newborns.

Although the companies and regime agencies involved are promising investigations, it is most likely just for show, according to Chen Taoan, former director of the Information Division of Shanxi’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

The three big vaccine companies monopolizing the market in China, and responsible for the dodgy vaccines are Shenzhen Kangtai Biological Products Co. (SKTB), Beijing Tiantan Biological Products Co. (BTBP), and Dalian Hanxin Biological Pharmaceutical Co. (DHBP). They account for more than 80 percent of China’s hepatitis B vaccine market.

Chen told the Epoch Times that the investigation of SKTB is nothing but a formality and no definite results could be expected, because SKTB has a good connection with the authorities—even as high as the The China Food and Drug Administration (CFDA) and Ministry of Health (MOH). Further, its market allocation for vaccines is assigned by the authorities.

The China Food and Drug Administration (CFDA) and National Health and Family Planning Commission (NHFPC) announced investigations on Dec. 24.

SKTB stopped vaccine production on Dec. 24, while had DHBP halted production before the vaccine incidents. BTBP claimed that all of its vaccine products were qualified, but three of its executives have recently resigned.

Chen said the quality of vaccines produced in mainland China are below standards because the three big companies are monopolizing the market, eliminating competition among manufacturers.

Chen alluded to corruption at the official level for SKBT’s market monopoly.

“The SKTB’s huge market share, 50 percent of China’s vaccine market, was not acquired through commercial competition, but rather through government officials,” Chen explained. “Each year authorities assign them a quota.”

“Because SKTB has a good relationship with MOH and CFDA, the investigation by CFDA is the same as CFDA investigating itself, and thus nothing will be found.”

Deadly Test Results Ignored

Mr. Zhang used to be in charge of drug safety testing for one of China’s vaccine manufacturing companies. Zhang injected the vaccines into little white mice every day.

“A large proportion of the little white mice died after the injections, but the manufacturer still sold these poisonous vaccines as qualified products,” Zhang told the Epoch Times.

“The consequences are simply unimaginable. In the end I quit my job because I couldn’t stand the sting of my guilty conscience!”

In June 2013, the Southern Metropolitan Daily article “Elegy of Vaccine” reported the problems caused by China’s vaccines in detail.

The article said that the annual vaccination number in China reached one billion. The adverse reaction rate is approximately one to two per million, meaning one to two thousand children will suffer medical after-effects; diseases, severe or permanent disability, paralysis, or even death.

Chen was interviewed for the “Elegy of Vaccine” article, hoping to alert officials of these issues in the vaccination market, as well as the drawbacks and dangers to society. Chen added that the officials’ inaction is the reason fatalities keep happening.