Illegally sold COVID-19 jabs may be fake or smuggled, says hospital director

A director of a Manila hospital said the Sinovac vaccines being illegally sold are believed to be fake or smuggled due to counterfeit batch numbers in the vials.

It can be recalled that three men, including registered nurse Alexis De Guzman, were arrested over illicit sale of the 300 vials of CoronaVac, only stored inside an icebox.

Gat Andres Bonifacio Memorial Medical Center in Manila previously confirmed that De Guzman is one of their nurses, who have been working for them for 15 years. 

Dr. Teodoro Martin, chief of the Manila-based hospital, denied that the supplies being sold were from the hospital. He further explained that De Guzman is not a member of their vaccination team.

"Chinecheck namin ang pharmacy hindi naman siya (De Guzman) pumupunta ron. Wala kaming storage ng vaccine sa hospital. Kasi ang storage facility sa Sta. Ana at Manila Health Department," Martin said in an interview with Joseph Morong on "24 Oras."

(We are checking with the pharmacy and he isn't going there. Aside from this, our vaccines are stored in Sta. Ana and Manila Health Department, we don't have storage facility in the hospital.)

Martin also pointed out that the hospital was using Moderna vaccines last July 1, when De Guzman and two others were caught in the act of selling CoronaVac.

After checking the vaccines, Martin said the vials also have a different lot number and bar code from the vaccines being distributed by the local government.

He further explained that the bar codes of illegal vaccines were easily removed, which means it could be fake.

"Ang tunay na niroroll out na ibinibigay ng WHO, makapit. Saka hindi mabubura," he said.

(Real vaccines being used in the rollout sticks into the vials. The bar code will not be erased.)

If the vaccines are indeed smuggled or fake, Martin said: "Yan ang kinakatakot ko, baka mamaya fake tong ivavaccine mo sa mga tao di ba."

(That is what I am afraid of. They might be using fake vaccines to inoculate these people.)

The National Bureau of Investigation is coordinating with the Food and Drug Administration to probe the illegal vaccine vials. They will also determine whether there are other accomplices in the illegal activity.—Consuelo Marquez/LDF, GMA News