Small vials labeled “Vaccine” stickers are next to a medical syringe in front of the “Coronavirus COVID-19” words shown in this illustration, taken April 10, 2020.
Given Ruvic | Reuters
The World Health Organization warned at a press conference on Friday about counterfeit Covid-19 vaccines being sold on the dark web.
“We urge all people not to purchase vaccines outside of government-run vaccination programs. Any vaccine outside of these programs may be substandard or falsified, with the potential to cause serious harm,” said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director General of WHO.
The top WHO official said the group is also aware of reports of “criminal groups” reusing empty vaccine vials and tampering with the Covid vaccine supply chain.
“We insist on the safe disposal or destruction of used and empty vaccine bottles to prevent them from being reused by criminal groups,” said Tedros. He asked countries and individuals to keep an eye out for suspected vaccine sales and report them to national authorities. “Information flow is essential to flagging, mapping global threats and protecting confidence in vaccines,” he said.
The WHO stressed that any harm from counterfeit vaccines does not reflect the safety of real vaccines.
Law enforcement in the UK has cataloged more than 6,000 cases of Covid-related fraud in the past year at a cost of £ 34.5 million (US $ 48 million), the BBC reported.
According to the Federal Trade Commission, Americans have lost $ 382 million to fraud related to the coronavirus pandemic. More than 217,000 people have filed a Covid-related fraud report with the agency since January 2020.