The World Health Organisation (WHO) on Wednesday warned India about fake Covishield vaccines being circulated in the country and asked to notify the discovery of such false batches urgently.
The apex health body asked people who may have gotten jabbed by such fake vaccines to report adverse events, if any, to the national drug regulators and pharmacovigilance bodies in order to enhance vigilance in their Covid vaccine supply chains.
"The falsified products were reported in July and August 2021. The genuine manufacturer of Covishield (Serum Institute of India) has confirmed that the products listed in this alert are falsified. These falsified products have been reported at the patient level in Uganda and India," the WHO said.
Further, it said only genuine Covishield vaccine was indicated for active immunisation of individuals 18 years or older for the prevention of Covid-19 disease.
"Falsified Covid-19 vaccines pose a serious risk to global public health and place an additional burden on vulnerable populations and health systems," it said.
In view of the same, the WHO has called for urgent detection and removal of these falsified products to prevent harm to patients.
Apart from India, these falsified vaccines are also detected in Uganda.
