EDITORIAL - Fake vaccines

Negative COVID test results are being forged. So it was just a matter of time before coronavirus vaccines were also faked.

This week in Beijing and several cities in the eastern provinces of Jiangsu and Shandong, Chinese authorities arrested over 80 people and seized more than 3,000 fake COVID vaccines. The gang reportedly filled used vaccine vials with saline solution and began selling the fake items in September last year.

The reports did not specify the type of vaccines. It’s also noteworthy that Chinese authorities caught the culprits, with harsh punishment likely to be imposed. In the Philippines, however, the story raised concern that some of the vaccines might have reached the country. Tracking such contraband is proving to be nearly impossible.

Chinese-Filipino civic leader Teresita Ang See previously said that about 100,000 Chinese have already received their COVID jabs in the Philippines. To this day, authorities still do not know how this happened. Authorities also do not know how the Presidential Security Group got hold of COVID vaccines that its members allegedly self-administered way back in September – around the time that the fake vaccine ring began operating in China. PSG officials, on orders of President Duterte, have put themselves above the rules and refused to subject themselves to any probe.

The story from Beijing may also aggravate vaccine hesitancy, particularly toward jabs made in China. This is a problem for the government when it begins rolling out what the public perceives to be its preferred vaccine, made by China’s Sinovac and possibly Sinopharm. The story also raises concerns about similar unscrupulous activities in the Philippines, where negative COVID test results are reportedly faked in some printing shops for use by persons applying for jobs.

Those in charge of the COVID response say that to prevent counterfeiting of vaccines, vials will be immediately destroyed after use. Authorities have also vowed tight monitoring of all vaccines used in the COVID immunization.

While you can’t stop people from carelessly using vaccines without supervision by competent authorities, those who do so and falsely believe they have achieved COVID immunity may put other people at risk. Every effort must be made to prevent the production, distribution and use of fake vaccines. The ongoing public health crisis is terrible enough; anyone caught dealing in fake vaccines must be punished.