Fake covid vaccines boost the black market for counterfeit medicines
Kanchan Srivastava
Abstract
Counterfeit medicines and vaccines have always threatened public health, but the pandemic has brought a global surge in black market sales, writes Kanchan Srivastava 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. In Kolkata, a member of parliament, Mimi Chakraborty, was among 500 people administered fake versions of Covishield (India’s version of the AstraZeneca vaccine). China 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.3 Mexican customs officials have also seized vials of fake Sputnik V vaccine destined for Honduras.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.5 “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 [by counterfeiters].” ### What is a fake medicine? Interpol defines a counterfeit or substandard medicine as one that differs from the authentic version of the vaccine by: