The World Health Organization (WHO) on Friday expressed concern about the potential criminal exploitation of the huge unmet global demand for Covid-19 vaccines, warned against counterfeit vaccines and urged people stick to government-run immunization programs.
According to WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, several ministries of health, national regulatory authorities and public procurement agencies around the world have received suspicious offers to supply Covid-19 vaccines , the Xinhua News Agency reported.
WHO is “aware that vaccines are diverted and reintroduced into the supply chain, with no guarantee that the cold chain has been maintained,” he said, adding that counterfeit vaccines have been sold on the internet. , mainly on the dark web. It was also reported that “criminal groups” were reusing empty vaccine vials.
Also on Friday, the WHO issued an alert for a counterfeit Covid-19 vaccine identified as BNT162b2, which was detected in Mexico in February.
The product has been supplied and administered to patients outside of authorized vaccination programs, may still be circulating in the region, and may continue to be offered to patients outside of authorized vaccination programs, the WHO said.
The real BNT162b2 Covid-19 vaccine is indicated for active immunization to prevent Covid-19 in people over 16 years of age.
“Falsified Covid-19 vaccines pose a serious risk to global public health and place an additional burden on vulnerable populations and health systems. It is important to identify them and remove them from circulation, ”the WHO warned in a statement.
Tedros urged the public not to buy vaccines outside of government-run immunization programs and to report any suspicious vaccine sales to national authorities, who will report to the WHO.
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(Only the title and image of this report may have been reworked by Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is automatically generated from a syndicated feed.)
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