Vaccine scandal: A quick official response is needed

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Editor's note: The piece is edited and translated from CCTV Business Review.

On July 15, ChangChun Changsheng Bio-tech Company was exposed of fabricating their human rabies vaccine. The vaccine issue has sparked heated debate as most of the time, people who receive the vaccine are young children between the ages of three months to 6 years old.

Back in 2015, Chinese President Xi Jinping clearly pointed out that we must apply the strictest possible standards, oversight, punishment, and accountability to ensure food safety. We must inspect compliance with the Food Safety Law nationwide, covering every step from farm to table.

"The Four strictest" guidelines clearly sketched the red line for food and drug safety, which cannot be crossed by anyone, or by any enterprise. But, the reality brings up the question: have the relevant departments and companies put the president's requirements into practice?

Some companies, tempted by greed, lured by capital, and enticed by selfish desire, have turned the security safeguard into the safety hazard.

The health of companies determines the health of the market. The deterioration of the companies, on the contrary, means that lesions happen in the whole market, which is difficult to treat, and can easily spread.

Vaccine./ VCG Photo

After a nine-month investigation by Jilin Provincial Food and Drug Administration, ChangChun Changsheng Bio-tech Company has been fined 3.44 million yuan. But according to the company, its revenue in the first half of 2018 was about 200 million yuan, with profits of approximately 140 million yuan. The fine accounts for only 1.2 percent of their profit.

In recent years, China has introduced a series of regulatory measures for food and drugs, which has led to benign overall results. But why have the regulations not helped?

As there is little information available about this vaccine issue, people have expressed concerns, and rumors have even spread. For example, where do those fake vaccines go? Has my child been injected with the problem vaccines, etc. It is obvious and obligatory for the governments to stop letting rumors lead the truth.

Given that issue has already occurred, it must be thoroughly investigated, responded to and accounted for. Those who violate the law and regulations must be resolutely blamed, and those who are derelict must be punished.

A student is given a vaccine./ VCG Photo

Besides, it is also worth noticing that after 40 years of reform and opening up, various industries and products, including vaccines, have made great progress and improvement from quantity to quality to service. Therefore, the reputation of domestically produced vaccine cannot be ruined by this issue.

It is also necessary to use the most stringent regulatory mechanisms to ensure to put “the four strictest” guidelines into real practice. Meanwhile, we have to admit that our regulatory mechanism still has hidden dangers, which are needed to perfect.

In addition, government departments should improve its emergency response mechanism, and respond to people's concerns in a timely manner because in today's media, once something goes wrong, the negative news that affects the vital interests of people will inevitably attract social attention.

Only when the relevant departments satisfy people's right to know can they jointly overcome difficulties with people.