The small bottles labeled with “Vaccine” stickers are placed near a medical syringe in front of the words “Coronavirus COVID-19” that appear in this April 10, 2020 illustration.
Atès Ruvic | Reuters
The World Health Organization warned against counterfeiting Covid-19 vaccines sold in the dark net during a press conference on Friday.
“We urge all people not to buy vaccines outside of government-administered vaccination programs. Any vaccine outside of these programs can be deficient or counterfeit, with the potential to cause serious harm,” the WHO director-general said. , Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
The top WHO official said the group is also aware of reports of “criminal groups” reusing empty vaccine vials and altering the Covid vaccine supply chain.
“We urge the safe disposal or destruction of used and empty vaccine vials to prevent criminal groups from reusing them,” Tedros said. He called on countries and individuals to monitor suspicious vaccine sales and notify them to national authorities. “The flow of information is essential to mark, map out global threats and protect confidence in vaccines,” he said.
The WHO stressed that any damage from counterfeit vaccines does not reflect the safety of genuine vaccines.
Law enforcement in the UK listed more than 6,000 cases of Covid-related fraud worth £ 34.5 million (US $ 48 million) last year, the BBC reported.
Americans have lost $ 382 million in fraud related to the coronavirus pandemic, according to the Federal Trade Commission. More than 217,000 people have filed a Covid-related fraud report with the agency since January 2020.