THE Food and Drug Administration (FDA) yesterday said it is tracing the source of COVID-19 vaccines sold by individuals arrested last week in an entrapment operation in Quezon City, particularly if these are smuggled or part of the government’s supply.
“We are tracing the sources, its lot and batch numbers, and on where they were distributed,” said FDA Director General Eric Domingo said in a radio interview.
“It disrupts the government’s program if they came from our supplies because it means the supplies allocated for registered vaccinees are reduced,” he also said.
If the vaccines are smuggled, these may pose health and safety concerns because these “are not accounted for and registered,” he said.
Last Thursday, three individuals were arrested by the National Bureau of Investigation for selling 300 doses of COVID-19 vaccines of made by the Chinese firm Sinovac Biotech.
One of the arrested is a nurse of the Gat Andres Bonifacio Memorial Medical Center (GABMMC) in Manila.
On Friday, the Manila city government said the vaccines sold to NBI agents did not come from the hospital’s supply. GABMMC is conducting an investigation.
