‘Rebels fighting against President Bashar al-Assad in Syria are suspected of sabotaging a batch of measles vaccinations – leading to the deaths of up to 50 young children.
Dozens of infants in the rebel-held cities of Jarjanaz and Sinjar in Idlib province died on Tuesday minutes after being given the drug.
Although the cause of death has not yet been established, officials reportedly suspect the vaccines may have been tampered with while left unguarded in a storage facility in Jarjanaz
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Dr Abdulla Ajaj – a physician who helped administer the vaccine – said the children all exhibited the same ‘severe allergic shock’ to varying degrees.
‘There was shouting and screaming, it was hard for the parents. You get your child vaccinated and then you find your child dying, it’s very hard,’ Ajaj said.
There weren’t enough respirators in the clinic, making the situation even worse, he added.’
- Dozens of infants died minutes after being given the contaminated vaccine
- Physician who administered vaccine said all children exhibited same reaction
- ‘There was shouting and screaming’, said Dr Abdulla Ajaj
- Infants were being vaccinated in rebel-held Syrian cities Jarjanaz and Sinijar
- Samples of the leftover drug have now been sent to Turkey for analysis
Read More: Syrian rebels suspected of sabotaging measles vaccinations leading to death of up to 50 infants
Related: Dozens of children feared dead after being injected with ‘tainted’ measles vaccine in Syria
