Deputy Governor, Mayor Sacked, Officials Censured Amid China Vaccine Scandal

Two Chinese biotech companies produced nearly 500,000 substandard vaccines for babies, roughly double an earlier estimate by authorities investigating a safety scandal, the state-run Xinhua News agency reported.

On Thursday, China’s powerful 25-member Politburo led by President Xi Jinping ordered an official probe into the country’s former top food-and-drug regulator, Wu Zhen.

He also called for the resignations of the mayor of the northeastern city of Changchun, and deputy director of the State Market Regulatory Administration in Beijing.

In July, China’s drug regulator accused Changsheng Bio-Technology Co. of selling 252,600 doses of ineffective vaccines to inoculate children against diphtheria, whooping cough and tetanus. A further probe revealed that the company had produced an additional batch of vaccines, raising the total to 499,800 doses.

President Xi Jinping said he was “shocked” by the news and demanded action against those involved.

Shares of Changchun-based Changsheng Bio-Technology have been sliding on a daily basis since the vaccine scandal broke out, sending the company’s stock down 80 percent.

Health-care companies on the Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300 index have lost more than two percent in Friday trading, Xinhua wrote.

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