Controversy Surrounds Pasteur Influenza Vaccine! Vaccination Suspended in Multiple Regions Nationwide, Families Who Have Received It Are Anxious!

On August 26, 2024, news of the suspension of Valling and Valga, the flu vaccines produced by Pasteur, a subsidiary of Sanofi, spread quickly on the Internet. According to netizens, they learned through text messages that a number of medical institutions such as Shanghai Jiahui Medical and Weiernuo have stopped administering Pasteur flu vaccines, including trivalent and quadrivalent vaccines. According to the investigation, the two vaccines have been administered in the Shanghai area for about 10 days. By August 28, the poster reporter had consulted the Shandong Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention and learned that the Shandong region had completely stopped vaccinating the vaccine.

On August 27, the customer service of Shanghai Jiahui Medical responded that the hospital had received a notice from the Shanghai Center for Disease Control and Prevention that all hospitals in Shanghai had suspended Pasteur flu vaccination. Customers who have received the vaccine will need to wait for further notice from the authorities.

In Shandong, community health service centers in some cities have also received relevant notices. The reporter learned that Jinan Lixia District, Laiwu District, high-tech district, Licheng District, Huaiyin District and other places, as well as some community health service centers in Dezhou District have begun to vaccinate the flu vaccine, but they received a notice of suspension of Pasteur flu vaccine before and after August 26, and immediately stopped the vaccination.

On the morning of August 28, a staff member of the Xianwen Community Health Service Center in Shunhua Road, a high-tech zone in Jinan City, told reporters: "Pasteur vaccine was gone two days ago, and the previous price was 160 yuan per unit." At present, we have domestic flu vaccines such as Hualan Bio and Guoguang Bio, whose price and effectiveness are not much different from Pasteur vaccine. Staff said they had only been notified of the suspension of Pasteur vaccinations and it was not clear when supplies would resume.

Sanofi told the media on August 27 that flu vaccine products are highly complex. During the ongoing stability study, the company found that the titers of the influenza vaccines Valling and Valga for the 2024-2025 influenza season showed a downward trend. In order to prevent possible impacts, Sanofi has decided to take a precautionary measure and temporarily stop the supply and sale of these vaccines in China.

Children make up a significant proportion of those receiving the two suspended flu vaccines. Valling is suitable for adults and children 36 months and older, while Valga is suitable for people 6 months and older.

Sanofi stressed that the influenza vaccines that have been marketed and circulated this year, Valling and Valga, have gone through strict marketing approval, complied with laws and regulations, national drug standards and statutory requirements, and met the release standards. The company has found no indication or evidence of any impact on the safety and effectiveness of its products. The decision to suspend supply and sales is purely precautionary.

It's worth noting that Pasteur flu vaccines have been recalled in the past. In 2018, Shenzhen Sanofi Pasteur Biological Products Co., Ltd. found that the titer of some batches of influenza virus split vaccine decreased during routine monitoring, and voluntarily recalled the relevant batches of vaccine, with a recall level of level 3.

Vaccine expert Taurina explained: "Those who have received the Pasteur flu vaccine should not be overly worried." He pointed out that each batch of flu vaccine needs to be self-tested and approved by the national drug testing agency before it can be marketed. If a recall occurs after the market, it indicates that the initial self-test and batch issuance are qualified, but subsequent tests find that some indicators are not qualified, and the recall is carried out out of caution.

Shao Yinan, a vaccine science writer, also said Sanofi's recall was a forward-looking recall, a preventive measure taken before a possible titer deficit, rather than a problem with the vaccine itself.