Hong Kong clinics brace for heated Chinese infant vaccine demand

The moves come after a Mainland biotech firm falsified data for its shots.

Reuters reports that Hong Kong clinics are fortifying their strongholds in anticipation of heated demand from Chinese residents who are turning to the nearby SAR for an infant vaccine preventing diphtheria, whooping cough, polio and Hib, with LuxMed Clinic reporting as much as six-fold increase in Mainland inquiries in the past few days alone. 

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This comes after Mainland firm Changsheng Bio-technology Co Ltd was found to have falsified the data for its rabies vaccine and manufactured ineffective shots, prompting widespread public outrage and pushing worried mothers to clinics in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong private clinics usually rely on foreign imports from GlaxoSmithKline and Sanofi unlike domestically made vaccines which account for 95% of China’s market. Despite a projected influx, the government eased concerns of a supply crunch.

“The current local supply of the Diphtheria, Tetanus, Acellular Pertussis and Inactivated Poliovirus Vaccine remains stable”, the Department of Health said in a statement. “The department has signed a contract with vaccine suppliers which ensures sufficient supply of the vaccines.”

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