With the arrival of the first batch of vaccines for COVID-19 expected this month, Deputy Speaker and Valenzuela 1st District Representative Wes Gatchalian urged law enforcement agencies to step up the crackdown on unregistered COVID-19 vaccines being sold and proliferated online.
“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, the Deputy Speaker for Trade and Industry, 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.
The Valenzuela lawmaker said that the money of consumers is not the only thing 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.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has previously warned the public against buying and using online sales of unregistered COVID-19 vaccines. The agency advised the public to take extreme caution when purchasing and using local or online vaccines that claims to be safe and effective in preventing COVID-19.
To date, only the FDA has issued emergency use authorizations (EUAs) for both the Pfizer-BioNTech and AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines.
Meanwhile, Gatchalian reiterated his call 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 House had previously passed its version of the ITA on the third reading with a vote of 232-6-0. A counterpart bill is still pending in the Senate.
The government has allocated P75 billion to some 53 million Filipinos to procure the COVID-19 vaccine. Vaccines procured by local government units and the private sector are expected to inoculate another 13 million Filipinos.
