The Food and Drug Administration has begun checking the lot number or batch codes of vaccines against COVID-19 following the discovery of unauthorized sale of certain doses.
FDA Director General Eric Domingo, in an interview with Dobol B TV, said accounting of vaccines will help determine if the doses being sold in the black market came from government supply.
As this developed, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra also on Sunday said authorities will arrest and prosecute any person or individual involved in the illegal sale of anti-Covid vaccines.
Guevarra made the warning after the National Bureau of Investigation’s Task Force Against Illegal Drugs arrested in Manila last June 30 three persons caught illegally selling COVID-19 vaccines.
We have a record of government-acquired COVID-19 vaccines, and where they are being distributed. We need to determine if illegally sold vaccines are from government supply or from unauthorized sources,” said Domingo.
The illegal trade of COVID-19 vaccines is alarming as allocated supplies for supposed recipients could be affected, Domingo warned.
Domingo also said that all vaccines that are part of government’s immunization program against COVID-19 have emergency use authorization (EUA). This means these are not allowed for commercial use.
Domingo, likewise, said it is coordinating with the NBI investigation of the incident of unlawful sale of COVID-19 vaccines, where three of the four suspects were already arrested.
The suspects will face charges for violation of the Food and Drug Administration Act.
So far, the Philippines has received over 17 million doses of various vaccine brands against COVID-19. This includes 7.5 million people vaccinated as of June 27.
The possible sale of vaccination slots is also included in the NBI’s investigation, as this is precisely the original scope of my directive to the NBI, Guevarra added.
Last Wednesday, June 30, agents of NBI-TFAID arrested Kour Singh, Calvin Roca, and registered nurse Alexis Guzman, who were caught with an icebox containing 300 doses of CoronaVac vaccine manufactured in China by Sinovac.
The group is suspected of selling the vaccines to workers of Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators.
After their arrest, they were presented for inquest proceedings before the Department of Justice (DOJ) for the filing of appropriate charges.