Govt sacks 6 officials over vaccine scandal

China said on Saturday it has sacked six senior officials at the State Administration for Market Regulation connected to the safety scandal at vaccine maker Changsheng Biotechnology Co Ltd.

In a posting on its website, the administration said that Ding Jianhua, who headed two departments at the China Food and Drug Administration, was among the dismissed officials.

Four other officials -- Dong Runsheng, Sun Jinglin, Ye Guoqing and Guo Xiuxia -- also worked at the CFDA.

The sixth official, Wang Youchun, was fired from his position as deputy dean of the National Institute for Food and Drug Control, a unit under the CFDA.

The dean of the institute, Li Bo, was ordered to reflect on the scandal.

Hubei punishes 11 officials for defective DPT vaccine 

Eleven officials in Hubei province were punished for their failure to supervise in a case involving defective vaccines produced in Wuhan, Hubei Daily reported on Friday.

Five officials, including Ai Lidang, deputy director of Wuhan's food and drug administration, were removed from their posts.

Deng Xiaochuan, deputy director of the Hubei Food and Drug Administration, was given a warning and a demerit.

Several other officials who had been in drug authority posts at the provincial level and in Wuhan at the time were also punished.

More than 400,000 substandard DTaP vaccines produced by Wuhan Institute of Biological Products Co in July 2016 were sold to Chongqing municipality and Hebei province, China's State Drug Administration said in November. The vaccines were safe but may not be effective, it said. The DTaP vaccine prevents diphtheria, tetanus and whooping cough.

The substandard products were the result of a production equipment malfunction, the administration said after an investigation earlier this month. An uneven ratio of vaccine liquid was measured before packaging.

On Thursday, a number of officials in Jilin province were punished over defective rabies vaccines involving Changchun Changsheng Life Sciences Co.

The Standing Committee of the Jilin Committee of the Communist Party of China removed Guo Hongzhi as director of the Jilin Food and Drug Administration.

Bai Xugui was removed as head of the Jilin Industry and Information Technology Department. He had previously served as vice-mayor of Changchun in charge of the food and drug administration there from April 2016 to February this year.

The company was found to have seriously violated the law since 2014 in its production of rabies vaccine, including adulteration of expired doses and faking production dates. The company has ceased production, and a recall of products is underway.

Xinhua contributed to this story.