The World Health Organization (WHO) has issued an alert on a fake Coronavirus vaccine of Covishield being given in India and Uganda. Serum Institute of India has partnered with AstraZeneca and Oxford University to produce and sell Covishield Covid vaccines.
Patients were taken out of the Authorized Vaccine Center and administered the fake vaccine.
After reports on fake Covishield vaccine circulation, the WHO has also warned about other medical products.
Meanwhile, SII has said that the firm does not supply Covishield vials in 2 ml.
“The falsified products were reported to WHO in July and August 2021. The genuine manufacturer of Covishield (Serum Institute of India Pvt. Ltd.) has confirmed that the products listed in this alert are falsified. These falsified products have been reported at the patient level in Uganda and India,” the WHO said.
These vaccines are found to be fake as necessary information was missing from the vial.
The WHO has called for the immediate identification and destruction of the falsified vaccines.
Fake vaccines are a major threat to the health of people around the world, as they may increase the load on the people coming to the risk zone and health facilities.
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“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 detect and remove these falsified products from circulation to prevent harm to patients,” the WHO said.
WHO's Global Surveillance and Monitoring System (WHO) has detected counterfeit vaccines from Covishield regarding the batch number and expiry date as well as fake and substandard medical products.
The fake Covishield vial identified in Uganda was 5 ml, in which 10 doses were said to be applied. It had batch number 4121Z040 and a fake expiry date of 10 August written on it.
Earlier, WHO has warned about the fake vaccines of Pfizer BioNTech.
A medical product alert has been issued by the WHo when counterfeit medicines and vaccines were found in South Asia and Africa. The organisation came across the fake vaccines of Covishield in July-August this year.
An advisory to monitor the supply chain of medical products has been recommended by WHO. The health organization has said that it is especially needed in countries where there have been incidents of getting fake vaccines.
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It further said, “Increased vigilance should include hospitals, clinics, health centres, wholesalers, distributors, pharmacies, and any other suppliers of medical products.”
It further added that all medical products must be acquired from authorized/licensed suppliers and the dealer should carefully check its authenticity and physical condition.