Authorities in Uganda have confirmed that over 800 people in the country were injected with water instead of Covid-19 vaccine.
Dr Warren Naamara, the director of the State House Health Monitoring Unit, has told the local media in Uganda that suspected fake Covid-19 vaccine vials were sent to Serum Institute of India which confirmed that the vials in question were not supplied to Uganda.
Serum Institute also confirmed that the product label information was forged.
“The fake vaccines were more of water than anything else from the chemical contents as it was analysed,” Naamara said.
The fake vaccines were administered between May 15 and June 17 after a phoney doctor persuaded several companies to pay for their employees to receive vaccines. The doctor was charging between $28-$56 per shot.
The doctor is on the run but authorities have since arrested two nurses over the scam.
Naamara has since advised people who got the water jab to get another shot in government hospitals but he has assured them that the fake vaccine was not harmful.
In Malawi, unconfirmed reports indicate that some private hospitals are selling Covid jabs at more than K100,000 a dose. Government is yet to carry out checks on these clinics and there are fears that the jabs being offered by private clinics are counterfeit.
