MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Interior and Local Government on Thursday directed the Philippine National Police (PNP) to be vigilant and arrest suppliers and traders of fake Covid-19 vaccines in the country.
In a statement, DILG Officer-in-Charge (OIC) and Undersecretary Bernardo C. Florece, Jr. also cautioned the public against those who might take advantage of them by selling fake vaccines.
“Some people are taking advantage of the pandemic to make money by selling fake vaccines. I am directing the PNP to arrest these criminals and ensure that these bogus vaccines are taken off the market,” Florece said.
“We must be cautious sapagkat ngayon nga ay mayroon nang kaso ng mga pekeng bakuna na mismong si Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto ang nakadiskubre,” he added.
(Vico Sotto, himself, showed a case of fake vaccines being sold online.)
Beware!! Wag bumili sa mga ganito! Picture pa lang kita nang mali ang handling. Maglolokohan lang kayo niyan.
Dapat dumaan sa nasyonal na pamahalaan ang pagbili ng kahit anong bakuna. For our safety.
Health care frontliners din po ang mauunang bakunahan. pic.twitter.com/fX3xj6wA9X
— Vico Sotto (@VicoSotto) February 15, 2021
He was referring to Sotto’s tweet showing a misleading scam that Pfizer vaccines are being sold but it turned out that the drug was fake.
“Dapat dumaan sa nasyonal na pamahalaan ang pagbili ng kahit anong bakuna. For our safety,” Sotto said in his previous social media post.
(It should first undergo screening from the national government.)
Meanwhile, Florece also directed PNP Aviation Security Group and Maritime Group for illegal supplies of fake Covid-19 vaccines that may enter air and sea ports in the country.
The Philippine government is still awaiting the indemnity deals of Pfizer and AstraZeneca for the arrival of vaccines in COVAX facility.
The initial doses of vaccines were supposed to arrive in mid-February but the delivery was delayed due to issues in document processing of the indemnity agreement.
To date, vaccines of American drugmaker Pfizer and British-Swedish firm AstraZeneca were granted with emergency use authorization, which fast tracks approval from the Philippine Food and Drug Administration.
No vaccine for COVID-19 has ever been allowed for commercial use, meaning that those being sold in the black market are unauthorized by vaccine makers or are most likely fake, and may potentially cause further health complications.