Governments put on high alert as fake Covid vaccines emerge

Governments across the world — including Kenya — have been put on high alert following the unearthing of fake Covid-19 vaccines in South Africa and China.

The discovery comes just three months after Interpol warned law enforcement agencies to be alert of criminal gangs who may take advantage of the slow distribution of vaccines and introduce fake ones on the black market.

There are no approved Covid-19 vaccines currently available for sale anywhere in the world.

And in countries where they are available like in Kenya, Covid-19 vaccines have a tightly-controlled supply chain, making them available only through health authorities who are rolling out doses to priority groups.

Multinational syndicates

Anxious people are, however, flocking the internet in an attempt to jump the queue without knowing that they are exposing themselves to organised multinational syndicates selling counterfeit vaccines.

In South Africa, the police raided a warehouse in Germstone, Guateng where they netted 2,400 doses of fake vaccine and three million fake face masks. The vaccines were packaged in some 400 ampoules. Three Chinese nationals and a Zambian national were arrested.

“Our association with counterparts from all Interpol member countries is proving to be very effective as we have seen in the arrests for foreign nationals attempting to peddle fake vaccines to unsuspecting people within South Africa,” Brigadier Vish Naidoo, South African Police National Spokesperson was quoted by Interpol saying.

Ready for shipping

In China, police raided a facility suspected to be manufacturing fake Covid-19 vaccines and seized more than 3,000 doses that were ready for shipping. Over 80 suspects were arrested during the raid facilitated by Interpol’s Illicit Goods and Global Health Programme (IGGH).

"The Chinese government attaches great importance to vaccine security. Chinese police are conducting a targeted campaign to prevent and crack down on crimes related to vaccines, proactively investigating and combating crimes related to vaccines in accordance with law,” said a spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Public Security.

Kenya’s national rollout

The discovery of the fake vaccines came as Kenya launched its first national rollout of the Covid-19 vaccine to priority groups. During the launch in Athi River, President Uhuru Kenyatta warned Kenyans that the vaccination exercise will not be a success unless Kenyan’s continue observing Covid-19 containment protocols.

“I want to tell Kenyans that this disease is still in our midst. The vaccines do not mean that we are through. We must continue to protect ourselves. Put on masks, wash hands, sanitise and keep social distance," the President said.