Healthcare ministry explains why non-certified vaccine was procured

The Ministry of Healthcare today held a news briefing to explain why the unregistered South Korean vaccine Eupenta had been bought, BELTA reports. Belarus was about to face ‘a critical situation’ last year, head of the pharmaceutical inspectorate of the Ministry of Healthcare Lyudmila Ravutskaya said. It was caused by the shortage in supplies after the defective series of the Russian DPT vaccine were discarded and returned to the supplier). There was a threat that the national vaccination schedule would not be fulfilled resulting in the spread of dangerous infections, the official said.

Belarusian officials asked “major Western companies” to organize supplies but they refused (they supposedly did not have enough time to produce the vaccine). The Ministry of Healthcare had to choose between the vaccines produced in India, China or South Korea. Officials selected the South Korean vaccine that was not registered in Belarus.

The Ministry of Healthcare also announced the possible cause of death of the 2-month-old boy who died after an injection in Hancavicy District: the possible reason for the critical condition was an anaphylactic reaction to one of the used vaccines.

The online newspaper Yezhednevnik published an article about the vaccine Eupenta recently. The newspaper suggested that Belarusian children night have been deliberately used to test the unregistered vaccine that did not have a Belarusian certificate. The article ‘is posing a threat to the national security of the Republic of Belarus in the sphere of healthcare’, the Ministry of Healthcare announced and lodged a complaint to the General Prosecutor’s Office. Meanwhile, the Investigation Committee is conducting an inquiry into the child’s death as well as the quality and origin of the vaccine.