偽ファイザーワクチン、メキシコとポーランドで摘発　最高２７万円で販売

【ワシントンＡＦＰ＝時事】米製薬大手ファイザーの新型コロナウイルスワクチンの偽造品が、メキシコとポーランドで摘発された。１回分２５００ドル（約２７万円）で販売されたものもあったという。米紙の報道を、ファイザーと当局者が認めた。（写真は資料写真）
　米紙ウォールストリート・ジャーナルによると、メキシコの診療所では約８０人が偽ワクチンの接種を受けた。体に害はなかったとされるが、新型コロナウイルス感染症（ＣＯＶＩＤ－１９）への効果はゼロだ。
　メキシコ政府のＣＯＶＩＤ－１９担当報道官は、ソーシャルメディアで偽ワクチン１回分が最高２５００ドルで販売されているのをサイバー犯罪対策課が摘発し、数人が逮捕されたと述べた。
　当局によると、偽ワクチンの小瓶は家庭用のクーラーボックスの中から見つかった。偽の製造番号と使用期限の表示から、偽造品と断定された。
　ファイザーは、ポーランドでも偽ワクチンが押収されたことを確認した。小瓶の中身はしわ取り美容液だったとみられている。
　同社の広報担当者は米ＡＢＣニュースに対し、「電子商取引の簡便性とインターネットの匿名性が助長するこうした環境では、ＣＯＶＩＤ－１９のワクチンや治療に関連した詐欺や偽造、その他の違法行為がさらにまん延することを認識している」と述べた。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2021/04/23-12:56）

Fake doses of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine were being sold in Mexico and Poland for as much as $2,500 a shot, the US drugmaker and an official confirmed.
At a clinic in Mexico some 80 people received bogus vaccines, which appeared to have been physically harmless though offered no protection against the potentially deadly disease ravaging the country, a report in the Wall Street Journal said.
Mexico's government spokesman on Covid-19 Hugo Lopez-Gatell said no product was found that could affect the health of those scammed, adding several people had been arrested.
Lopez-Gatell said the false drugs were offered on social networks for up to $2,500 per unit and were detected by cyber police.
The vials were found in beer coolers and were initially identified by fabricated lot numbers and expiration dates, Mexican officials said.
Confiscated vials of bogus Covid vaccines in Poland contained a cosmetic substance, thought to be anti-wrinkle cream, the company said.
We are cognizant that in this type of environment -- fueled by the ease and convenience of e-commerce and anonymity afforded by the internet -- there will be an increase in the prevalence of fraud, counterfeit and other illicit activity as it relates to vaccines and treatments for Covid-19, a Pfizer spokesperson told ABC News.
In February, health authorities in the northern Mexican state of Nuevo Leon warned about clandestine sales of alleged Covid vaccines and urged people not to take them.
In March, the World Health Organization also warned of falsified Pfizer vaccines found in Mexico and warned that the shots may still be in circulation in the region.
Pfizer tested the bogus vials and found they did not contain the two-shot vaccine it developed with BioNTech.
Lev Kubiak, Pfizer's head of global security, said the desperate need and the shortfall in vaccines had led to the scams.
We have a very limited supply, a supply that will increase as we ramp up and other companies enter the vaccine space. In the interim, there is a perfect opportunity for criminals, he told the Wall Street Journal.
Mexico is also examining a shipment of 6,000 doses of what is claimed to be the Russian vaccine Sputnik that were seized on a private plane headed for Honduras last month, the newspaper said.