Interpol issues global red alert over possible manufacture and sale of counterfeit Covid- 19 vaccines
The International Police (Interpol) has issued a worldwide alert over possible manufacturer and sale of counterfeit Covid- 19 vaccines.
In a statement released yesterday, Interpol Secretary General Jurgen Stock said, organised crime networks would exploit physical and online channels to advertise, sell and administer the fake vaccines.
“As a number of Covid- 19 vaccines come closer to approval, ensuring the safety of the supply chain and identifying websites selling fake products will be essential,” Stock said in his statement.
The Interpol announcement said that criminals are planning to infiltrate and disrupt the vaccine supply chains worldwide to make money.
Interpol said counterfeit vaccines which could pose a significant risk to lives and health would be advertised and sold online.
The agency called on law enforcement and health regulatory authorities to work together and ensure safety of individuals and communities is protected.
This came hours after United Kingdom granted emergency-use authorization for a Covid-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer of the United State and BioNTech of Germany to be distributed in limited numbers within days.
The spokesman said the emergency use authorization followed “months of rigorous clinical trials and a thorough analysis of the data by experts at the MHRA who have concluded that the vaccine has met its strict standards of safety, quality and effectiveness.
British health Secretary Matt Hancock said the distribution of the vaccines would begin next week priority given to the elderly and nursing home residents.
However, the European Union has criticised Britain’s rapid approval of Pfizer and BioNTech’s Covid-19 vaccine saying its own procedure was more thorough, after Britain became the first western country to endorse a COVID-19 shot.
In an unusually statement, the European Medicines Agency (EMA), which is in charge of approving Covid-19 vaccines for the EU, said its longer approval procedure was more appropriate as it was based on more evidence and required more checks than the emergency procedure chosen by Britain.
“If you evaluate only the partial data as they are doing they also take a minimum of risk, personally I would have expected a robust review of all available data, which the British government has not done to be able to say that without Europe you come first,” the EMA’s former head Guido Rasi told an Italian radio.
The decision was made under an ultra-fast, emergency approval process, which allowed the British drugs regulator to temporarily authorise the vaccine only 10 days after it began examining data from large-scale trials.
The UK is one of the worst countries hit by the pandemic with 1.64 million confirmed cases and more than 59,000 deaths.
Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe recently said that the government would be in no rush to order the vaccines.
However, yesterday, Health Chief Administrative Secretary Rashid Aman said the government would consider vaccines from manufacturers in Singapore, South Korea, China and other countries.
By Joy Kyalo
