Officials in Hyderabad raided a warehouse on Tuesday and seized allegedly outdated tetanus vaccines worth Rs 10 lakh.
The North Zone Task Force conducted the joint operation with the Amberpet police and Drugs Control Administration.
Officials said that the vaccines were stored illegally, without a license, and under unfavourable temperature conditions.
The team raided the warehouse of a company called Dano Vaccines & Biologicals Private Limited, situated in the city's Ghatkesar area, which manufactures the specific vaccine.
“They had defaulted in packaging during the quality check at the company. They were shifted here and stored in order to be repacked and sent back to the company for labelling and supplying,” a press release stated.
The police said that a case had been booked under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act and further investigation is ongoing.
Officials also suspected that the vaccines may have expired, and their date stamp had been tampered with, so that the company could still sell it. This was an act that endangered human life, the police said.
"There is a certain sealing activity taking place, without a license. The vaccines have to be kept in cold storage, which means a temperature between 2 to 8 degrees Celsius. They have not been able to show us a license as well. Therefore, we are seizing it. We will send some samples for forensic testing as well," an official from the Drugs Control Administration told a local media outlet.
The administration of vaccinations, especially in Hyderabad’s Old City area, has always been controversial.
In September last year, it was reported that over 100 schools from the Old City area the protested the immunisation drive in Telangana and Hyderabad, by sending 'letters of refusal' to participate in the measles – rubella vaccination camp.
The MR-VAC vaccine, which prevents measles and rubella, is generally administered to children between the ages of nine months and 15 years.