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First counterfeit Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines surface in Poland and Mexico

By lockdown_exit - 22nd Apr 2021, 12:00 am - That was the week that was
  • Pfizer discovered the first counterfeits of its COVID-19 vaccines - the latest fakes amid the worldwide push for vaccinations. The vials, recovered were recovered in Mexico and Poland.
  • In Poland, these vials contained water and anti-wrinkle treatments, the pharma told The Wall Street Journal. At a clinic in Mexico, where 80 people paid $1,000 per dose, vials were seized with fraudulent Pfizer labels, with incorrect expiration dates and lot numbers. The fake vaccines were actually distilled water and delivered in beach-style coolers. Recipients were unharmed.
  • The Pfizer fakes are the lastest in worldwide discoveries of counterfeit COVID-19 vaccine and deceptive websites hawking non-existent vaccines. Last month vials were seized in South Africa and Mexico.
  • The South African haul included 2,400 doses and resulted in the arrest of three Chinese nationals and a Zambian. An investigation went on to reveal a netowork also selling fake vaccines in China, where an additional 80 were arrested.
  • In Mexico, a private plane headed to Honduras was seized with 5,700 doses of supposedly Sputnik V vaccines from Russia, when it was seized. 'This is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to COVID-19 vaccine related crime,' Interpol Secretary General Juergen Stock told Reuters.
  • In the USA and several other countries, fake websites are purporting to sell COVID-19 vaccines with the purpose of obtaining people's personal information. The U.S. department of Homeland Security told the WSJ that it took down 30 websites and captured 74 web domains seeking to take advantage of the demand for COVID-19 related products.
  • Scammers are also using telemarketing calls, text messages and door-to-door visits to access personal information, according to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
  • In February, three men from Baltimore were charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and faced up to 20 years in prison for running a scam website to sell Moderna COVID-19 vaccines for $30 each. Their site was designed to appear like Moderna's right down to its logo, markings and text. The scammers also used the web address  ModernaTX.shop - closely mimicking the company's actual URL, modernatx.com. HHS said it has yet to uncover counterfeit vaccines in the USA. Its pursuit of fake drugs is long established as the industry generates more than $200bn annually.

Published FirstPharma April 21st by Kevin Dunleavy