Vaccines safe: DMO

The District Medical Officer (DMO) has clarified that the vaccines to
be used for mass vaccination against Japanese encephalitis (JE) from
July 15 to August 5 are not date-expired, as was reported in a section
of the media. In a statement issued here on Thursday, the DMO said the
vaccine, SA 14.14.2, despatched by the Centre for the mass vaccination
programme had been imported from China and the expiry date was July
2010. The vaccines are being stored maintaining all cold chain
precautions in the district vaccine store and there is no reason to
doubt the quality or potency of vaccine, he added. A mass vaccination
against JE was carried out in Alappuzha last year and a batch of
leftover vaccines had been brought to the district for use here. The
public can be sure of it that the vaccines being used for the campaign
in the district are from a fresh lot, the statement said.

The Hindu, July 10