In Africa, 18.7% of samples have been found to be fake or substandard. WHO estimates that up to 1% of medicines available in high income countries are likely to be counterfeit, but this figure rises to 10% globally. Having packaging that looks poorly constructed, is labelled with spelling or grammar errors, or appears to have been interfered with Not including information on how to store the medicine Having an out-of-date or missing expiry date Having a different shape, size, taste, or colourīeing not correctly labelled or not labelled at all Interpol defines a counterfeit or substandard medicine as one that differs from the authentic version of the vaccine by:Ĭontaining too much or too little of one or more ingredients, or containing different ingredientsĬlaiming to have different properties or side effects “I’ve never seen such a dynamic situation before,” Jürgen Stock, general secretary of Interpol, told Time magazine, 6 “The liquid gold in 2021 is the vaccine, and already we are seeing that vaccine supply chains are targeted more and more.

4 An Interpol operation across southern Africa in July and August led to the identification of 179 suspects and the seizure of $3.5m worth of goods, including vaccines, face masks, and fake covid-19 test certificates. 3 Mexican customs officials have also seized vials of fake Sputnik V vaccine destined for Honduras. In Kolkata, a member of parliament, Mimi Chakraborty, was among 500 people administered fake versions of Covishield (India’s version of the AstraZeneca vaccine).Ĭhina has been clamping down on counterfeit versions of its domestically produced vaccines, 2 while Mexico and Poland have reported counterfeits of Pfizer vaccines being given to people for $1000 each. When the World Health Organization flagged the danger of fake covid-19 vaccines in August, 1 Mumbai and Kolkata police were already prosecuting a dozen people for their alleged involvement in “fake vaccination drives” conducted in May and June.

Counterfeit medicines and vaccines have always threatened public health, but the pandemic has brought a global surge in black market sales, writes Kanchan Srivastava

Black market