How to identify fake Covid-19 vaccine? Indian Govt. issues guidelines

There are three Covid-19 vaccines in the Indian market--Serum Institute of India's Covishield, Bharat Biotech's Covaxin, and Russian vaccine Sputnik V The WHO said that it has found duplicate versions of AstraZeneca/Oxford's Covishieldvaccines in South East Asia and Africa. The launch of the Covid-19 vaccines is no less than a blessing for the world, but their fake versions have become a point of concern for governments. The World Health Organization (WHO) has also flagged concern regarding the counterfeit version of Covid-19 vaccines that have disrupted the vaccination targets. Recently, the WHO said that it has found duplicate versions of AstraZeneca/Oxford's Covishield vaccines in South East Asia and Africa. As a result, the Central Government has issued guidelines for the state government to identify fake Covid vaccines available in the markets. At the moment, there are three vaccines against coronavirus in the Indian market--Serum Institute of India's Covishield, Bharat Biotech's Covaxin, and Russian vaccine Sputnik V. The union health ministry has listed the following criteria to check if the Covid vaccine is original or fake: COVISHIELD A vial bottle should have the following details- SII product label Brand name (Covishield) with trademark should be there The font of the generic name will be un-bold "(Recombinant)" would be mentioned below the generic name in the same font. CGS not for sale stamp There will be an SII logo on the adhesive side of the label. Label colour shade is dark green and the aluminum flip-off seal is dark green. [caption id="attachment_11828" align="alignleft" width="1024"] Covishield Covid-19 vaccine[/caption] COVAXIN Invisible UV helix (DNA like structure) on the label of the vial that will be visible under UV light Green foil effect in "X" of COVAXIN's spelling Holographic effect on COVAXIN spelling More than 68 crore Covid-19 vaccines have been administered in India so far. Of which, 26.99 crore first doses have been administered to individuals in the 18-44 age group, and 3.35 crore second doses in the same age group since the start of phase-3 of the vaccination drive on May 1.(mint)