With the expected delivery of the first batch of Covid-19 vaccines this month, the House deputy speaker for trade and industry on Monday urged law-enforcement agencies to intensify the crackdown against unregistered Covid-19 vaccines proliferating in the online market.
Deputy Speaker Wes Gatchalian the statement following the warning of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to the public against buying and using unregistered Covid-19 vaccines being sold online.
The FDA has warned the public to take extreme caution on the purchase and use of vaccines sold locally or online claiming to be safe and effective in preventing Covid-19.
“We are anticipating that with the arrival of the Covid-19 vaccines in the country, there will also be an influx of unscrupulous individuals selling unregistered, or worse, fake vaccines,” Gatchalian said.
“We call on all cybercrime agencies of the government to be on the lookout for illegal and unregistered Covid-19 vaccines and pool their resources to apprehend opportunists who prey on the public,” he added.
To date, only Pfizer-BioNTech and AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccines have been issued emergency use authorizations (EUAs) by the FDA.
The government has allocated P75 billion for the procurement of Covid-19 vaccine for some 53 million Filipinos. Another 13 million Filipinos are set to be inoculated by vaccines procured by local government units and the private sector.
The Valenzuela lawmaker also said that is not just the money of consumers that is at stake, but also their very lives.
“The medicines that have not been pre-approved by the FDA may be highly harmful to the health of our consumers. I urge our kababayans to report any suspicious claims or advertisement claiming to be a vaccine for Covid-19,” he said.
“Although these are indeed trying times, it is the height of insensitivity to take advantage of the need of our public,” he added.
Meanwhile, Gatchalian reiterated his call to the Senate for the immediate passage and approval of the Internet Transactions Act (ITA), which he said would be “an effective deterrent for these scammers who continue to utilize the internet and other online facilities for their nefarious activities.”
The lower chamber alreadyy passed on third reading its version of the ITA but the counterpart bill in the Senate is still pending.