Misleading claim spreads online that flu vaccines administered in South Korea in 2020 were manufactured in China

Several posts shared repeatedly on Facebook and Twitter in October 2020 claim that more than 40 South Koreans have died after receiving a flu shot imported from China. The posts suggest that all flu vaccines recently given in South Korea were imported from China. The claim is misleading: South Korea launched an investigation in October 2020 into the deaths of 72 people who died shortly after receiving flu shots as part of the country’s national vaccination program, but health authorities told the AFP that none of the locally available flu vaccines have been produced. in China; As of October 29, the Korean Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) of South Korea said that of the 72 recorded deaths, 71 were believed to be unrelated to flu vaccines and a further investigation had been ordered into the remaining deaths .

The claim was shared here on Facebook on October 25, 2020 in a public group with over 30,000 members.

Part of the Korean-language post translates to English as: “More than 40 South Koreans have died from the flu shot. Where did this vaccine come from? The evil mind behind Wuhan pneumonia, Communist China.

“Over the past five years, South Korea has spent more than 16.7 billion South Korean won of taxpayer money to import more than 17 tons of the killer vaccine.”

Vaccine Investigation

South Korea’s Korean Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) has confirmed that at least 72 people have died after receiving injections as part of the national flu vaccination program.

According to this October 29, 2020 report from local Yonhap news agency, a KDCA investigation found that of the 72 deaths, “71 are believed to have no connection to flu vaccines” and a further investigation was ordered into the remaining death.

The misleading claim circulated online two days after South Korean opposition politician Koo Ja-geun released a report on vaccine imports from China that included the same figures.

The statement of October 23, 2020 reads, in part: “A review of South Korea’s customs data shows that in the last five years (2015-2019) … South Korea has imported approximately 17.2 tons of vaccines from China , for a value exceeding 16.7 billion. “

He also called on the government to open a “strengthened investigation” into vaccine-related deaths and to conduct “more thorough testing” of vaccines imported from China.

A similar statement was also shared here on Facebook and Here, Here, Here, Here is Here on Twitter.

The claim, however, is misleading.

Flu shots

In response to the misleading claims, Moon Eun-hui, head of the South Korean Health Ministry’s Biopharmaceutical Quality Management Division, told AFP that “none” of the vaccines imported from China were being used as a flu vaccine in South Korea.

The ministry indicated this statement to AFP on its website, which states that all of the country’s flu vaccines were manufactured domestically or imported from France or Germany.

A screenshot of a question and answer section on flu vaccines on the website of the Ministry of Food Safety and Drugs

It reads, in part: “Do free flu shots in Korea use vaccines made in China? NO.

“There are no Chinese flu vaccines in distribution in South Korea. All flu vaccines administered in South Korea have been manufactured domestically or imported from France or Germany.”

The statement lists ten companies that make flu vaccines that have been distributed in South Korea.

Of these, eight are nationally registered and two are classified as “foreigners”. He adds that all eight South Korean companies use Korean ingredients and the other two, Sanofi-aventis and GlaxoSmithKline, import vaccines from France and Germany.

He further states: “Is there a difference between vaccines produced domestically and those produced internationally? NO.

“All vaccine manufacturers around the world use the same virus strain distributed by the World Health Organization (WHO). There is no difference in quality between countries.”

Lee Jae-gap, professor in the division of infectious diseases at Hallym University Kangnam Sacred Heart Hospital, said the flu vaccines distributed in South Korea did not include Chinese ingredients, to the best of his knowledge.

“As far as I know, none of the ten manufacturers use Chinese ingredients,” he said in a telephone interview with AFP on October 27.

“All flu vaccine manufacturers receive strains from the World Health Organization, which means that discussions about the origin of the ingredients or where they were made are meaningless. Independently [of where the drugs were made], they all go through a safety test for approval by the health authorities before entering the market. “