BEIJING — The Chinese leadership, bowing to immense public pressure, has fired 10 officials and punished dozens more in connection with a scandal over faulty vaccines that has undermined President Xi Jinping and fueled parent protests.

The government said on Saturday that it had removed six senior officials at the China Food and Drug Administration for their role in a scandal that left hundreds of thousands of children with faulty vaccines for diphtheria, tetanus and whooping cough. Another four officials accused of wrongdoing were fired on Thursday after a meeting of Mr. Xi and China’s top leaders.

The dismissals were the latest attempt to quell public anger over the affair, which has hurt confidence in the nation’s health care system and raised questions about Mr. Xi’s leadership. Criticism of officials and companies has swelled since news of the defective vaccines emerged on social media last month, and parents have organized protests to demand compensation for the affected families.

While the government said the children were unharmed, the case has touched a nerve among Chinese parents frustrated by years of similar food and medicine scandals.