Fake Ads Selling COVID-19 Vaccine Rampant On Social Media

JAKARTA - Vaccine manufacturers in China have warned people not to get caught up in online scams, in which advertisers are taking advantage of offering the COVID-19 vaccine. In fact, until now there is no vaccine on the market.

Launching SCMP, Friday, August 14, an advertisement claiming to sell the two types of COVID-19 vaccines has appeared on the social media platform WeChat. "Contact me if you need a coronavirus vaccine," wrote one advertisement claiming to sell a Sinovac Biotech vaccine product.

"It can be made for export and the volume of production is low so people have to queue. This vaccine will be officially launched on September 2."

Sinovac spokesman Liu Peicheng said the advertisements circulating on WeChat were fake. He said the Sinovac vaccine is currently still in phase 3 clinical studies in Brazil and Indonesia. In addition, the vaccine has not been approved for market.

Another vaccine that is said to have been sold is claimed to have come from the Wuhan Institute of Biology. The vaccine was advertised for a price of 498 yuan per dose. Prospective buyers are advised to buy three doses.

"Health care workers and people going overseas can use them on priority basis," the ad said.

The Wuhan Institute and its parent company China National Biotec Group have yet to comment on the ad. However, the agency previously told Shanghai-based Jiefang Daily that the vaccine is still in the clinical trial phase and has not yet been marketed.

China's vaccine industry has long been mired in quality problems and scandals. A concern that has caused doubt among the population.

In a move to restore public confidence, China has stepped up vaccine regulations. In 2018, China even fined 9.1 billion yuan for one of the country's largest rabies vaccine makers, Changchun Changsheng Biotechnology.

The company was ordered to stop production when it was revealed the wrong vaccines had been given to hundreds of thousands of children. The case sparked widespread public outrage.

According to the Vaccine Administration Act in China, organizations and individuals outside the government's disease control department are not permitted to supply vaccines to third-party vaccination agencies.

Huang Simin, a lawyer based in Wuhan, said that while it was illegal for individuals to peddle vaccines on social media, authorities had to impose stricter regulatory measures to stop fraud.

"We have a long history of vaccine problems, and it is not a pandemic that brings these issues to light. There have been many problems in vaccine distribution in the past which caused many accidents, "he said.

"Because of the ongoing pandemic, everyone hopes to have a vaccine, which can put some people at risk. Not everyone understands the relevant strict provisions of the new vaccine administration law, "he added.

The World Health Organization (WHO) says six vaccines have reached phase 3 clinical trials, which involve more extensive testing in humans. Each trial will last several months and involve up to 30 thousand people. Sinovac and the Wuhan Institute are both listed among the six vaccines.