Growth of the black market for COVID-19 vaccines

The black market for COVID-19 vaccines is also expanding. The volume of illegal vaccine ampoules has grown to such an extent that European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen recently had to warn member states about pharmaceutical products sold by unauthorized drug vendors. However, the demand for counterfeit drugs has always been high.

In 2019, the Falsified Medicines Directive was introduced to limit the illegal distribution of medicines. However, it is also necessary to introduce educational activities regarding legal sources of drug supply and their protection against counterfeiting, so that the end user of medicines is fully aware of how dangerous purchasing such products (medicines or vaccines) on the black market can be.

Can COVID-19 vaccines offered on the black market be dangerous to human health?

Because we are already dealing with a massive quantity of COVID-19 vaccines on the black market, people buying them online or in any other way must be aware that they can never be 100% sure what an ampoule from an illegal source actually contains. To counteract this, all prescription drugs are supplied in packaging secured against tampering as part of so-called tamper evidence, which enables easy identification of whether a medical product has been previously opened and, for example, its contents swapped. Access to secured medicines is only possible after destroying or damaging such a seal.

Serialization of COVID-19 vaccine ampoules – the best weapon against the black market!

There are also additional safeguards that companies in the pharmaceutical industry use to defend themselves against international drug counterfeiting. We mean, of course, the serialization of drugs, medical devices, and pharmaceuticals, which allows for better control of all drug sales channels. During the packaging process of high-risk products—such as COVID-19 vaccines—such additional safeguards (2D Data Matrix codes) are assigned as part of the serialization process. Serialized pharmaceutical products can be easily verified and distinguished from counterfeits purchased on the black market. Thanks to this, we have a guarantee that only authentic, officially approved drugs enter the legal market.

Local community information campaigns on medicines safety

As we emphasized in the introduction, end users must be aware of which pharmaceutical products they can safely consume. Therefore, at Prespack, we have recently been running information campaigns in the local press and social media regarding drug safety. We also create audiovisual materials for publication on social media. We believe it is our social responsibility as a contract drug manufacturer to carry out such educational activities, especially now, when the black market for COVID-19 vaccines is genuinely growing.