Chinese parents told vaccines ‘generally safe’ after scandals

Lawmakers move to restore confidence in domestic products as people are discouraged from heading overseas to get their children vaccinated

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Chinese parents have been urged to have confidence in domestically produced vaccines. Photo: AFP

Published: 8:37pm, 11 Mar 2019Updated: 11:22pm, 11 Mar 2019

The head of China’s largest influenza vaccine supplier has urged mainland parents not to rush to Hong Kong for shots, claiming they might not be as safe as people expect.

An Kang, a National People’s Congress deputy and chairman of Hualan Biological Engineering – which supplied 80 per cent of flu vaccines on the mainland last winter – said there was no significant difference between domestic products and overseas brands.

Jiao Hong, head of the National Medical Products Administration, China’s vaccine regulator, also moved to restore confidence in domestic vaccines which, she said, were “generally safe”.

Jiao told reporters, on the sidelines of the NPC, that a law had been drafted which would require companies to build a sound quality management system, a product tracking system, as well as risk reporting mechanisms.

Jiao Hong, head of China’s National Medical Product Administration, said a new law would improve regulation of the country’s vaccine producers, at a press conference on the sidelines of the National People's Congress in Beijing. Photo: Simon Song

It would also improve the lot release mechanism – a process for the inspection and approval of vaccine products as safe and effective for use – by adding more site checks, Jiao said.