Chinese Vaccine Companies Speed up Production of A/H1N1 Flu Vaccine
Chinese Vaccine Companies Speed up Production of A/H1N1 Flu Vaccine
Chinese vaccine producers are speeding up production of the A/H1N1 flu vaccine as the influenza begins its second wave of infections in China.
Liu Peicheng, head of Sinovac Biotech Company, says the company is strengthening the quality inspection of vaccines while stepping up its production.
"Before vaccines are put into use, they have to pass the tests of both the company itself and the National Institute for the Control of Pharmaceutical and Biological Products."
The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has ordered more than 42 million doses of vaccines from seven domestic producers since earlier this week.
A Ministry of Health spokesman says a total of 26 million doses will be delivered by the end of October.
The government's purchase price for the vaccine is 22 yuan, or about three U.S. dollars, per dose. The vaccines are provided to the public for free. In the global market, the vaccines sell for about 15 U.S. dollars per dose.
Police in Effort to Reunite Families
A toddler rescued from child traffickers will soon be reunited with his father after the country's police authority published the personal data of 60 youngsters who were recently saved.
A DNA test confirmed Hua Guokang's relationship with his father. Hua is now staying at an orphanage in Guiyang, capital of Guizhou Province, while his father is following procedures to take him back.
The country's police have rescued 2,008 kidnapped youngsters after solving 1,717 cases in a nationwide campaign against child trafficking since April.
While some have been reunited with their families, others still have no contact with their parents.
The Ministry of Public Security says it will continue to publish the information of such children to help locate their parents.
It has set up a databank to store personal information including the DNA data of all the rescued children.
Burned CCTV Building 'Safe'
The chief architect for the landmark new headquarters of China's state broadcaster, CCTV, says the part of the complex that burned in a massive fire earlier this year can be repaired and does not need to be torn down.
Architect Ole Scheeren says initial inspections show that the high-rise's steel structure largely withstood the fire and that preparations are under way to repair the China Central Television building.
Scheeren's comments are among the first public remarks about the extent of the damage to the futuristic-looking 5-billion-yuan, or 730 million US dollar, CCTV complex, which features a pair of enormous, leaning buildings of black glass and steel.
The fire in February engulfed an adjacent 159-meter, 44-story building that was to house a luxury Mandarin Oriental Hotel, which was only weeks away from opening. An unlicensed fireworks display arranged and paid for by CCTV to mark the end of the Lunar New Year started the blaze. One firefighter died.
Till Death Do Us Part: Walmart.com Selling Caskets
Wal-Mart Stores are now catering to their shoppers' needs from cradle to grave.
The world's largest retailer has introduced online sales of caskets, expanding a merchandise selection that spans engagement rings and baby gear to a new major milestone in its shoppers' lives.
Shoppers can choose from the Lady de Guadalupe steel casket for $895 or a sienna bronze casket for $2,899.00.
Walmart.com spokesman Ravi Jariwala said it is selling the products as a "limited beta test" launched within the last few weeks.
Competitor Costco Wholesale Corp already sells caskets online.
No Job? Less Money? Divorce is Off the Budget
Financial woes often drive couples apart but the current recession seems to be having the opposite effect, with less couples able to afford the cost of a divorce.
The American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers says more than half of the respondents to its latest survey among its 1,600 members had cited a drop in divorce filings during the current recession which has cut jobs, salaries and house prices.
In total, 57 percent of the attorneys noted fewer divorce filings since the last quarter of 2008.
China's A/H1N1 Peak Yet to Come
The number of patients infected with A/H1N1 flu has seen a sharp increase recently. From Monday to Wednesday more than 6,300 confirmed cases have been reported in China. While experts from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention warn that the peak of the epidemic has not come yet, they point out that the measures taken by the governments to control the disease have been effective.
