Chinese authorities are scrambling to control the fallout after revelations that $88m in expired or spoiled vaccines have been distributed across China in a trade that continued unchallenged for years.
The latest in a string of food and drug safety scandals in the country highlights the ability of unsafe distribution networks to thrive in the absence of public scrutiny. It comes at a time when China is promoting vaccine manufacture as a potential export industry.
Police in Shandong province cracked the ring that purchased and redistributed substandard vaccines 11 months ago but authorities only appealed to distributors to help trace potential victims this week, after Chinese media broke the story.