3 held in Jiangsu expired vaccine investigation

Three health officers held responsible for 145 babies receiving expired oral polio vaccine were suspended Wednesday in Jinhu county of East China's Jiangsu province, according to the county's health commission.

From Dec 11 to Monday, 145 babies were given the expired vaccine at a local health center in the county's Licheng township, the commission confirmed.

The three officers are Liu Zhibing, deputy director of the health center, Yang Wanqin, deputy director of the county's center for disease control and prevention, and Han Wei, deputy section chief of one of the departments under the center for disease control and prevention.

"Renowned medical experts in Jiangsu province will be invited to the county to give the children medical examinations on Thursday," Zhou Guangfeng, head of the county's publicity department, was quoted by Thepaper.cn as saying.

"The government guarantees that any medical problems found during the examinations will be treated," he said. "Jinhu County Hospital Group will take responsibility to treat the problems. A remediation plan to revaccinate the children will be made immediately."

The county government has initiated a major incident and emergency response team to investigate the expired vaccine. Local discipline inspection and supervisory committees also have participated in the investigation.

The inoculations with expired live attenuated polio vaccine was accidentally found by a father who works in a local hospital on Monday.

The father, who took his 4-year-old son to the center to take the vaccine pills, checked online with the vaccine batch number, 201612158, printed on the boy's vaccination record book and found the batch expired on Dec 11.

The county has scrutinized all local health centers to seal up the expired vaccine pills, drugs and medical consumables, according to a notice published by the local publicity department. Two more vaccination centers have been established downtown for parents' convenience.