MANILA — The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has warned the public against using falsified COVID-19 vaccines, which were detected in Mexico after confirmation of the manufacturer to the World Health Organization.

Based on its advisory dated March 30, FDA said they received reports that the alleged vaccine identified as “BNT162b2” stating its manufacturer as Pfizer BioNTech “was administered to patients outside the authorized vaccination programs.”

“The FDA strongly advises the public to be vigilant on the circulation of this falsified COVID-19 vaccine since this poses a serious risk to the global public health and further increases the burden on vulnerable populations and health systems,” the FDA said.

“A falsified vaccine deliberately or fraudulently misrepresents identity, composition or source and upon confirmation with the genuine manufacturer, it was confirmed that this vaccine was not manufactured by them, batch number and expiry date were falsified, and glass vials and labels were different from the authentic COVID-19 vaccine BNT162b2 vials,” it added.

The FDA reminded the public that only authorities may administer the use of vaccines.

While there is no evidence yet to support claims that there are fake COVID-19 vaccines in the Philippines, the Food and Drug Administration earlier called on both the public and the private sector to be vigilant against counterfeit drugs.

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