TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) – Chinese police have arrested more than 80 suspected members of a criminal group that manufactured and sold fake COVID-19 vaccines, including to other countries.
Police in Beijing and Jiangsu and Shandong provinces divided the group led by a suspect nicknamed Kong who produced the fake vaccines, which consisted of a simple saline solution, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.
The vaccines were sold in China and other countries, although it was unclear which. According to state media, the group had been active since September.
“China has already reported the situation to the relevant countries,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said during a daily briefing on Tuesday.
“The Chinese government is committed to vaccine safety and will continue its efforts to strictly prosecute counterfeits, fake sales and trafficking and other related actions involving vaccines,” Wang said. “At the same time, China will strengthen our law enforcement cooperation with the relevant countries to seriously prevent the spread of this type of illegal and criminal action.” He gave no further details.
China has a long history of vaccine scandals due to manufacturing problems and business practices. In 2016, police arrested two people in charge of a ring selling millions of improperly stored vaccines across the country.
In response to recent scandals, China has reformed vaccine safety regulations and increased criminal penalties for those caught making fakes.
In their own country, many Chinese citizens did not rely on homegrown vaccines and surveys previously showed that confidence in vaccines was declining after scandals such as the one in 2016. However, confidence has been high since the pandemic hit. A total of 74% of respondents in a recent survey published in the Chinese business magazine Caixin said they would take a COVID-19 vaccine if it was available.
China has at least seven COVID-19 vaccines in the final stages of clinical trials and has one approved for domestic use made by Sinopharm, a state-owned company.
Chinese vaccine makers have seized the opportunity presented by the pandemic to go global, with Sinopharm and other Chinese companies closing deals or donating their vaccines in at least 27 countries around the world.
Domestically, China has given more than 24 million doses of its homegrown vaccine candidates as part of a massive vaccination campaign. The vaccine has so far refrained from administering the vaccine to the most elderly, but has targeted key groups such as medical personnel and workers working in food-related industries, as well as adults between the ages of 18 and 59.
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Associated Press researcher Liu Zheng in Beijing contributed to this report.