Original title: Xinhua Perspective丨Revealing the secret of nine-valent HPV vaccine Gray intermediary business experience: Hospitals are short of vaccines, but "scalpers" can make appointments on their behalf
Despite their hand speed and Internet speed, they can't. At present, the difficulty in making an appointment for the nine-valent HPV vaccine in China has troubled many women of appropriate age. Some people have no choice but to find "scalpers" to get vaccinated, and they have to pay hundreds of yuan in intermediary fees for each shot. Why is it so difficult to find seedlings if you make an appointment on your own, but "scalpers" can seize the seedling sources and make huge profits? "Xinhua Viewpoint" reporters launched an investigation.
Find a "scalper" to get the vaccine. The intermediary fee is hundreds of yuan per shot.
Call the community hospital and pay attention to the vaccine release information on major public accounts. This kind of "vaccine rush" has been going on for nearly half a year. Wu Xiao, a Guangzhou citizen, has not yet been vaccinated. Valuable HPV vaccine. Currently, the nine-valent HPV vaccine in China is applicable to people aged 16 to 26 years old. Wu Xiao, who is approaching 26 years old, is anxious and looking for vaccine "scalpers" through Weibo . Among a bunch of intermediary advertisements, Wu Xiao added the WeChat account of one of the scalpers.
paid an agency fee of 300 yuan per injection and waited for a month. Wu Xiao got the first injection at a certain community hospital in Dongguan . The appointment for the second shot took longer, and the vaccination location was changed to Shunde.
According to Wu Xiao, there are nearly 400 people in the customer group formed by scalpers. "When I took a ride to Shunde, the girls who were traveling with me in the carpool also went to get vaccinated."
In 2016, HPV vaccine was approved for sale in my country. There are currently three types of vaccines in China: bivalent, quadrivalent, and nine-valent. Studies have shown that injecting attenuated HPV vaccines can prevent cervical cancer. The higher the value, the more HPV types it can prevent. At present, the demand for nine-valent vaccine , which has the most preventive types, is increasing, and the situation of "difficulty in making an appointment" and "hard to find a vaccine" troubles many women.
On May 18, 2020, the first batch of domestic HPV vaccines were vaccinated in Wuhan. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Xiong Qi
At present, vaccinators in most cities in China can make appointments through community hospitals and official platforms, and some have also explored the "lottery" appointment method. Data released by the Shenzhen Municipal Health Commission on March 8 showed that a total of 527,121 people participated in the third 2022 nine-valent HPV vaccine lottery held in Shenzhen in March, and 21,170 people were successful. The winning rate was only 4%.
In order to get the nine-price vaccine as early as possible, many women have turned to scalpers to pay more for the vaccine. At Tianhe No. 1 Community Hospital in Guangzhou, the reporter randomly interviewed four women who went to get vaccinated. They all made appointments through "scalpers". "My whole family came to help me make an appointment, but if I don't find scalpers, I won't be able to get a spot. If I don't get one, I will be overage." A vaccinator told reporters.
Technical agency, internal channels..."scalpers" have many methods to book vaccines.
The reporter searched for "HPV vaccine appointment" on the Internet platform and found a large number of agency advertisements, and the fees for agency and robbing ranged from a few hundred yuan to several thousand yuan. No wait. The business of vaccine "scalpers" covers major cities across the country, and some "scalpers" claim to "get vaccinated at any time within a week after making an appointment."
It is “hard to find a seedling” when making an appointment on your own. How can a “scalper” successfully make an appointment with a seedling? According to an investigation by
reporters, some “scalper” teams use technology to increase the success rate of recruiting seedlings. Wu Xiao told reporters that during the process of making appointments for vaccinations, "scalpers" sent information about hospitals that had recently released vaccinations. After confirming the location of injection , they logged into Wu Xiao's account on their own terminal devices and ran plug-in programming software to snatch the vaccines.
In January this year, Jiangxi police informed Nanchang that a graduate student named Liu acted as a "scalper" to make reservations and obtain nine-price vaccines by writing computer program code. The program code can be automatically run on the hospital's official website. Liu offered prices ranging from 800 yuan to 1,000 yuan and posted information about the vaccine "on behalf of others" on major social platforms. Liu has been subject to criminal coercive measures on suspicion of damaging computer information systems.
In addition to technical competition, some "scalpers" claim to have "cooperation channels" with hospitals to make appointments. As a consumer, the reporter placed an order with a "scalper" and successfully made an appointment for the vaccine. On the eve of the vaccination, he received a call from a self-proclaimed "hospital staff" informing the reporter the address of the vaccination hospital.Through a search, the reporter found that on the official reservation channel displayed on the community hospital's public account, the inventory status of the nine-price HPV vaccine was shown as "vaccine shortage" and reservations could not be made.
Feifei Wong, who completed the vaccination at a maternal and child health hospital, told reporters that she had not received an injection for nearly a year, but she made an appointment for the first injection the next day after paying the fee to a scalper. At the vaccination site, the "scalper" who had previously interacted with him online turned into a "hospital staff". After assisting Feifei Wang in registration, he returned to the hospital reception desk to continue working.
In addition to technology grabbing and selling in-house vaccines, some "scalpers" smuggled Hong Kong vaccines and cooperated with nurses in medical institutions to attract customers. According to Chen Jiamin, who received the Hong Kong vaccine, the "scalper" provided the contact information of the nurse at the vaccination hospital after confirming the vaccination time. On the day of vaccination, Chen Jiamin arrived at the designated hospital, and the nurse took the injection to help him quickly vaccinate. "My three injections were taken at three different hospitals, and the whole process was secretive." Chen Jiamin said.
It is understood that the HPV vaccine has stricter transportation temperature requirements, which puts a question mark on the effectiveness of the smuggled Hong Kong vaccine. Yao Tingting, associate professor of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, said that it is difficult to judge the authenticity of the smuggled nine-price Hong Kong vaccine, and some may not have a preventive effect or even cause allergies in the recipients, which poses a greater risk.
Is HPV “vaccine freedom” still far away?
Zhou Hui, director of the Medical and Health Business Professional Committee of the Guangzhou Lawyers Association, said that in recent years, efforts to combat Internet crime have continued to increase. Many courts have found that "scalpers" use unconventional means to structure online requests and undermine the fair transaction order. Common crimes that harm the interests of consumers include providing intrusion and illegal control of computer information system programs and tools.
If a "scalper" snaps up vaccines by recruiting hospital staff and resells them for profit, reaching a specified amount, he or she will be suspected of bribery, and the targeted person will be suspected of accepting bribes or accepting bribes of non-state staff.
Experts believe that vaccines are biological drugs. If they are not managed in a standardized manner, they will have a negative impact on personal safety. Corresponding laws and regulations should be introduced to increase the punishment for scalpers. In addition, only by increasing supply and solving problems such as "lack of vaccines" and "difficulty in making reservations" can we fundamentally cut off the gray industrial chain of "scalpers".
Yao Tingting said that the public needs to change their understanding of the HPV vaccine. Although the higher the price, the more types it protects, but vaccination with bivalent and quadrivalent vaccines can prevent 70% of cervical cancer. Timely protection is the first step. , it is recommended that women of appropriate age give priority to whatever vaccine is available. One year after completing the HPV vaccination, they can continue to receive other HPV vaccines.
It is understood that many places across the country are gradually promoting the universal vaccination strategy of HPV vaccination for women of appropriate age. At present, Ordos in Inner Mongolia, Lianyungang in Jiangsu, Jinan in Shandong, Xiamen in Fujian and other places have launched free or subsidized vaccination plans for bivalent HPV vaccines. (Wu Xiao, Wang Feifei and Chen Jiamin are all pseudonyms in the article) (Reporters Yang Shuxin and Xiong Jiayi)
Source: Xinhua News Agency
