After the World Health Organization alert, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya has said that the Government has launched an inquiry into its report claiming that counterfeit versions of Covishield, India’s primary anti-Covid-19 vaccine, had been seized.
“It has been claimed that duplicate versions of Covishield vaccine were sold in the country. The Indian Government is probing this claim, and will take action if it finds any substance to the allegations,” he told reporters in Rajkot on Thursday.
The report about counterfeit vaccines allegedly being seized quoted the World Health Organisation.
In a statement on August 16, the WHO said that its surveillance and monitoring system had identified fake Covishield vials at the patient-level in India and the African nation Uganda. The fake products were reported to it in July and August, WHO said.
“The genuine manufacturer of Covishield (Serum Institute of India Pvt. Ltd.) has confirmed that the products listed in this alert are falsified,” the WHO statement said.
The WHO said that it could identify that the vaccines were fake based on misrepresentation of their “identity, composition and source” mentioned on the vials.
The vials found in India contained doses of 2 millilitres, though Serum Institute of India does not manufacture Covishield in such vials.