Understand in one article: How to identify fake vaccines during special periods?

Since the outbreak of the COVID-19, vaccines have become the focus of public attention. As vaccines have been launched one after another, counterfeit COVID-19 vaccines have occurred frequently at home and abroad. How to identify fake vaccines? Before large-scale counterfeiting occurs, we will give you some tips in advance.

Author | Cao Guoying, Wang Shuai, Cao Ying

Beijing Yangtze River Pharmaceutical Development Foundation China National Institute of Inspection Rapid Test Research Group The COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread, and vaccines have become the key to winning the fight against the pandemic. As various vaccines have been launched one after another, counterfeit "COVID-19 vaccines" have occurred frequently at home and abroad. Recently, public security organs in Jiangsu, Beijing, Shandong and other places successfully cracked a major case of manufacturing and selling fake COVID-19 vaccines. In order to make huge profits, the suspects used physiological saline to impersonate COVID-19 vaccines and sold them, which brought great risks to the national epidemic prevention and control work.

Although there are currently few "new crown vaccines" on the market for "emergency use", rumors of "appointment vaccination" have been circulated in various places. According to the information currently available, a surge of counterfeiting is coming at home and abroad. Counterfeiting speculation in extraordinary times seems to be inevitable, but we will not sit idly by. It is very necessary to issue a national warning to produce "antibodies" to resist counterfeit vaccines.

Why do fake vaccines appear? How to effectively identify and prevent fake vaccines? Which vaccines are easily counterfeited? In addition to providing professional and innovative guidance for internal reference of the regulatory system, this article also organizes a set of simple methods for the public to prevent fake vaccines. I hope to help everyone fully understand vaccine counterfeiting.

Note: This article was jointly completed by the Beijing Yangtze Pharmaceutical Development Foundation and the China National Institute of Inspection and Quarantine's rapid inspection research team. It is positioned as a public and popular social science article. In addition, in order to prevent counterfeiters from breaking speculation, the domestic "new crown vaccine" has more professional and detailed other authenticity inspection and internal identification technologies, which are not listed here for the time being.

01

How big is the market demand gap for "new crown vaccine" at home and abroad?

According to data released by the World Health Organization (WHO), as of December 29, 2020, there are 8 categories of COVID-19 vaccines under development worldwide, 172 candidate vaccines in preclinical stages, and 60 approved clinical trials. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that the world currently has a population of about 7.8 billion. Due to the complexity of the COVID-19 vaccine development process, the risks are high, the cost is high, and the production capacity is limited, the demand will still far exceed the supply for a certain period of time. In addition, according to the estimation of the approximate global demand for COVID-19 vaccines by well-known domestic experts and experts from Johns Hopkins University in the United States, it is usually possible to establish a relatively stable basic condition for herd immunity barriers only when 70% to 90% of the population is immune to the new coronavirus. That is, based on the global population of 7.5 to 7.8 billion, herd immunity for the new coronavirus requires 5.25 to 6.75 billion people to be immune. Considering that some vaccines require two doses to have an immune effect, the world is currently in urgent need of at least 10 billion doses of "COVID-19 vaccines." In the current global vaccine market, the four major "vaccine giants" such as GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), Sanofi, Merck, and Pfizer usually account for more than 90% of the vaccine market. Among them, GSK vaccines are almost ranked first in the world, but the number of vaccines available each year is only about 1 billion doses. The output of 10 billion doses of vaccine is an astronomical figure for the global vaccine production capacity. According to the production capacity of the only few manufacturers that have already started to be put on the market for emergency use, it is almost difficult to complete the number in 2021. Although my country's vaccine research and development is relatively advanced, if a relatively stable 70-80% herd immunity barrier is established, at least 900 million to 1.2 billion people will be vaccinated. According to the 18 companies that are being designed and promoted in China to expand the annual production capacity of the new crown vaccine to about 1.8 billion doses (or even more), it is possible to achieve 900 million vaccinations in my country, but there are still many difficulties and obstacles in the short term. In addition to the P3-level production workshop that meets the GMP standards, there are also factors such as raw material supply and the number of imported resources. In addition, it also involves various factors such as changes in vaccine accessibility caused by the research and development cycle of existing types of vaccines against new coronavirus mutations. From another perspective, the United States' "vaccine hegemony and nationalism" has emerged, and it has refused to join the Global COVID-19 Vaccine Implementation Plan (COVAX). The governments of the two major economies, the United States and the European Union, have already monopolized purchase orders of 900 million doses in advance, and it is expected that developed countries around the world will purchase more than 1 billion doses. They have already booked to purchase 80% of the future vaccine supply share, and the international COVID-19 vaccine resource capacity supply is seriously insufficient. And Chinese vaccines, especially for "poor friends" in small and medium-sized developing countries, will certainly provide more support and assistance. If China supports about 3.5 billion people in developing countries, China is likely to allocate 71% of its production capacity. Although China's epidemic is well controlled, the domestic demand situation is still very severe. Some experts also predict that by 2025, after the global epidemic is basically under control, the market demand for "COVID-19 vaccines" may gradually shrink. *COVAX: The plan was created by the Global Vaccine Alliance, the World Health Organization and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations in April 2020, and China officially joined on October 8, 2020. At present, more than 180 countries and regions have pledged to join, and it is expected to provide 2 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccine public health products to the world by the end of 2021)

02

Why do criminals choose the "new crown vaccine" as a key target for counterfeiting?

The severe "COVID-19" situation at home and abroad and the severe shortage of "COVID-19 vaccines" in the market will inevitably make some lawless elements think that there is an opportunity to take risks and speculate and falsify. The current global epidemic prevention and control situation is severe. According to data from the World Health Organization on January 20, 2021, the cumulative number of confirmed cases of "COVID-19" in 220 countries and regions around the world has exceeded 100 million, and the number of deaths has exceeded 2 million. There are about 250 candidate vaccines for the new coronavirus under development worldwide, and at least 60 of them are entering clinical trial evaluation and have not yet been officially launched. There are currently 17 institutions in China that are studying or have individual products (conditionally) on the market. In accordance with the "Vaccine Management Law", my country officially launched the "emergency use" of the COVID-19 vaccine (within a certain scope and time limit) on July 22, 2020. Nearly 40 million people have been vaccinated in the emergency population, and some provinces and cities are expected to expand the vaccination population on a larger scale after the Spring Festival. However, there are still conditional restrictions and vaccination has not been carried out in a larger range of people who should use it nationwide, and the huge gap in the market still cannot meet the needs. The current domestic vaccine market price is less than 500 yuan per dose, and the country will implement a free vaccination plan for all. "Free for all" may have a great impact on the sales volume of the domestic counterfeit vaccine market, but criminals still have the opportunity to use counterfeit vaccines to fill the scarce market by taking advantage of time differences, special groups, online e-commerce, functional fraud, remote areas and other factors. After analysis, the following are the main factors for counterfeiters to choose their targets: 1) Domestic and foreign market demand factors: the current epidemic situation means that the number of free supplies is extremely short and cannot meet market needs; 2) Special drug price temptation factors: the initial vaccine price is high and very tempting (it is currently difficult to provide free vaccines to all people); 3) Slow treatment effect factors: after the vaccine is used, its immune effect itself cannot be quickly and intuitively manifested from the appearance; 4) Undercurrent operation factors in sales channels: the product is easy to sell privately and secretly, and special groups can easily avoid regulatory attention; 5) Difficulty and complexity of detection technology factors: the appearance characteristics of vaccine products are small and difficult to detect; 6) Packaging material structure factors: the product uses commonly used packaging materials and ordinary packaging printing design, which is easy to imitate; 7) Drug equipment process production factors: it is easy to make by hand for injection pre-filled preparations or vial packaging; 8) Drug ingredient lethal risk factors: there is almost no risk of lethality, the cost of breaking the law is low, and the probability of being reported and seized is extremely low; 9) Drug sensory property substitution factors: there are many products with similar appearance characteristics at home and abroad, and it is simple and convenient to imitate by changing the label.

The "National Free Vaccination Program" will have an impact on the sales volume of fake vaccines, but criminals can still use a variety of factors to fill the scarce market. The picture shows a comparison between real and fake vaccines, and the packaging is very similar. These counterfeiting factors, plus the "vaccination rumor notices" that have appeared in provinces and cities across the country (the purpose of the rumor: indeed selling fake vaccines in secret; phishing fraud to defraud money; defrauding personal information; deliberately riding on the popularity of online hot spots), all kinds of signs have exposed the underground undercurrent of counterfeiting, which should arouse sufficient vigilance.

03

What are the typical incidents of counterfeit "new crown vaccines" that have been discovered at home and abroad?

At present, counterfeit "new crown vaccine" products have appeared in some countries and some regions in China. With the continuous official launch of various types of "new crown vaccines" at home and abroad, batches of counterfeit "new crown vaccines" will also be launched, and the peak of counterfeiting will soon appear. After studying the "reverse deductive analysis technology", the relevant expert team has inferred and designed an early warning model to simulate counterfeit "new crown vaccines" as early as the early stage of the epidemic in February 2020. It has been confirmed that the "new crown vaccine" that uses "flu vaccine" to replace the "new crown vaccine" in the black market in Europe, the United States and South America, and the cases of "fake vaccine with signature replacement", "fake vaccine with medicine replacement" and "normal saline vaccine" found in China are completely consistent with the counterfeit "new crown vaccine" model methods predicted by experts a year ago. These cases are: Case 1: Recently, the public security organs in Jiangsu, Beijing, Shandong and other places have successfully cracked a major case of manufacturing and selling fake new crown vaccines. Since September 2020, the criminal suspect Kong Mou and others have used normal saline to fake new crown vaccines for sale in order to make huge profits. That is: injecting physiological saline into pre-filled syringes (assemblies) to make fake COVID-19 vaccines, and then selling them at a higher price. At present, according to the unified deployment of the Ministry of Public Security, the counterfeiting dens have been destroyed, the criminal chain has been cut off, more than 80 criminal suspects have been arrested, and more than 3,000 fake COVID-19 vaccines have been seized on the spot. The flow of counterfeit COVID-19 vaccines made and sold by Kong Mou and others has been identified (Xinhua News Agency). Case 2: Domestic media confirmed that there have been cases of counterfeiting pre-filled injection packaging of "COVID-19 vaccines" with physiological saline, distilled water, etc. in Fujian (Fuqing) and other places. Some are even unlabeled and privately contacted for injection and vaccination, and some are directly labeled as counterfeit COVID-19 vaccines from domestic vaccine manufacturers. Due to the sensitive period of epidemic prevention and control and the strict regulatory environment, criminals adopt the method of private "point-to-point" activities and transactions, taking advantage of network communications, electronic payments, logistics and transportation, etc., which are all natural and convenient means for criminals to sell fakes without meeting in person.

Fake vaccines from Fujian cost 4,000 yuan per shot, but many people are still fooled. Case 3: The Brazilian National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa) recently received a complaint that someone bought the so-called "new crown vaccine" developed by Oxford University in Niterói, Rio de Janeiro State, which was later tested to be a counterfeit and inferior product. Others sell fake Chinese "Sinovac new crown vaccine", which includes all certificates and is sold for 50 reais. If consumers request an injection on the spot, they need to pay an additional 10 reais. (CCTV News Client Reporter Tang Ye) Case 4: Counterfeit European and American mRNA vaccines: Counterfeit European and American mRNA new crown vaccines have also appeared on the Brazilian black market. Because the official recommendation is to store at -70℃, the black market counterfeiters put liquid nitrogen tanks next to the freezer just for show. Some black market forces have also obtained a large number of expired influenza vaccines from previous years, cleaned the text on the original labels with organic solvents, and then affixed labels marked "Covid Vaccine-19" to pretend to be new crown vaccines and sell them to bad doctors. (China Economic Net) Case 5: Recently, some people in the UK and the Italian capital of Rome have been selling "Chinese vaccines" among the public or family doctor groups. On November 17, 2020, the Chinese Embassy in Italy issued a notice to refute the rumor: reminding Chinese people not to believe in rumors and trade the so-called "Chinese vaccines" privately. Case 6: According to the Hungarian United Daily News, as soon as the new crown vaccine came out, more and more people tried to use fake vaccines to cheat money. Some scammers use very modern methods to sell the complete version of the new crown vaccine online. Generally, no one can tell whether the vaccine is real or fake, because the medicine looks the same, and the vaccine can only have numbers and labels. (China Press News) The situation is not optimistic but expected. In 2020, Europol issued a warning to 194 member states: The new crown epidemic and the shortage of vaccines will inevitably give rise to a huge counterfeit "new crown vaccine" market, and countries should pay attention to "identifying and combating counterfeiting." Looking at the current situation, there are many cases of counterfeit "new crown vaccines" at home and abroad, especially since the "Chinese vaccine" was launched relatively early. Cases of counterfeiting Chinese vaccines abroad will continue to appear. It is inevitable that relevant forces will take the opportunity to politically discredit and question Chinese vaccines. Therefore, the "counterfeit vaccine phenomenon" should attract our high attention.

04

Which types of "new coronavirus vaccines" and manufacturers' products at home and abroad are more likely to be counterfeited and faked?

There are many types of "new crown vaccines" currently being developed at home and abroad. The development and use of "new crown vaccines" is a stress response product for the whole world or all mankind. After the outbreak, my country quickly set up a scientific research team to promote vaccine development in parallel from five major technical directions: inactivated vaccines, genetically engineered recombinant subunit vaccines, adenovirus vector vaccines, attenuated influenza virus vector vaccines, and nucleic acid vaccines. At present, the types of vaccines that are easy to counterfeit at home and abroad and the analysis of manufacturers are relatively complicated. According to the analysis of the counterfeiting rules of criminals, the products that first enter the market (emergency use) are usually the main targets of counterfeiting and the key varieties of imitation by criminals. When the supply of vaccines (such as inactivated vaccines) that are put on the market for emergency use in stages is alleviated, adenovirus vector vaccines, recombinant subunit vaccines, etc. will also be the key targets of counterfeiting in the future because of their higher anti-mutation effects, only one injection, and more than 90% immunity rate. Nucleic acid vaccines and mRNA vaccines are generally launched later due to factors such as the R&D cycle. At the same time, due to risk control restrictions such as high allergic mortality, storage and transportation packaging conditions (-70°C), and use environment, they may not be the main target options for counterfeiting at present. Therefore, the "Chinese vaccine" is more likely to be counterfeited at home and abroad at this stage, and the counterfeit new crown vaccine in Europe and the United States is expected to appear in the domestic market in a few months.

The following are some vaccines that have attracted more attention at home and abroad:

1) China - Ad5-nCoV. China - CanSino/Chinese Academy of Military Sciences. Type: Adenovirus vector. The world's most convenient COVID-19 vaccine (only one injection is needed), with an efficacy of up to 97% (as of December 2020). 2) China: CoronaVac, Sinovac Biotech. Type: Inactivated. 3) China: Sinopharm Group China National Biotec Group - Wuhan Institute of Biological Products/Wuhan Institute of Virology, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Type: Inactivated. 4) China: Avicopterin: Sinopharm Group China National Biotec Group: Beijing Institute of Biological Products/Institute for Viral Disease Prevention and Control, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Type: Inactivated. 5) UK: ChAdOx1-S developed by: UK-AstraZeneca/Oxford University adenovirus vector. 6) US/Germany: BNT162b2. Pfizer, USA & BioNTech, Germany. Type: mRNA. Defect 1: Extremely high transportation and storage conditions, -70°C. Defect 2: Severe allergies (there is news of a history of severe allergies in the UK). 7) United States: mRNA-1273. United States-Moderna. Type: mRNA. 8) Russia: Sputnik V (Sputnik-V, Gam-COVID-Vac, successfully registered in Russia on August 11, 2020). Type: Adenovirus vector (double). 9) United States: Ad26.COV2.S (September 2020): United States-Johnson & Johnson/Janssen Pharmaceuticals. 10) United States: NVX-CoV2373 (September 2020): United States-Novavax. 11) Russia: EpiVacCorona (registration completed in October 2020) Novosibirsk Research Center. 12) China: Zhifei Biotech COVID-19 vaccine (unblinded clinical phase II on October 22, 2020). China Zhifei Biotech-Longcoma/Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Type: recombinant subunit vaccine. 13) India: Covaxin (Indian Bharat COVID-19 vaccine, Phase III trial on November 16, 2020): Indian pharmaceutical company Bharat Biotech/Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). The following figure is a reference to the appearance characteristics of some vaccines on the market abroad: China-Sinovac CoronaVac, Pfizer, Moderna, Russia Sputnik V, AstraZeneca, Germany BioNTech: mRNA, India, the United Kingdom, Canada, etc. There are currently six COVID-19 vaccines that are conditionally available for marketing (emergency use) or have entered Phase III clinical trials in my country. The basic features of the appearance of the manufacturer's packaging labels are as follows (including some packaging labels in the experimental stage of application): 1. Sinopharm Group China National Biotec Group: Wuhan Institute of Biological Products Co., Ltd.: "New Coronavirus Inactivated Vaccine" 2. Sinopharm Group China National Biotec Group: Beijing Institute of Biological Products Co., Ltd.; "New Coronavirus Inactivated Vaccine"

3. Beijing Sinovac Biotech Co., Ltd.: "New Coronavirus Inactivated Vaccine" is available in vial packaging (for easy storage and transportation) and pre-filled syringes (for easy use) 4. Institute of Bioengineering, Military Medical Research Institute, Academy of Military Sciences, CanSino Biologics Co., Ltd.: "Recombinant New Coronavirus Vaccine (Adenovirus Vector)" developed by Chen Wei's team 5. Institute of Medical Biology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences; "New Coronavirus Inactivated Vaccine" (clinical trial on May 23, 2020)

6. Anhui Zhifei Longcom Biopharmaceutical Co., Ltd./Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences; "Recombinant novel coronavirus vaccine (recombinant protein vaccine)" (clinical trial on June 19, 2020)

These six vaccines may also redesign the printing and packaging layout and select new packaging materials after the products are officially launched. However, no matter which packaging logo and material, as long as it has been used by the manufacturer or clinically, it is a sample and target for counterfeiters to imitate and pursue. Therefore, it is particularly important and necessary to understand and analyze the characteristics and rules of the manufacturer's packaging logo and grasp the important features for understanding and analyzing risky varieties. In addition, according to the "Implementation Measures of the People's Liberation Army of China", Ad5-nCoV is currently limited to internal use within the military, and the scope of vaccination shall not be expanded without the approval of the Logistics Support Department of the Military Commission. CanSino Biologics also stated that it could not guarantee the successful commercialization of Ad5-nCoV.

05

What are the methods and raw materials used to counterfeit "new crown vaccines" at home and abroad?

Based on the public reports of domestic and foreign media that counterfeiters have counterfeited "new crown vaccines", combined with the appearance characteristics of the historical counterfeiting rules of vaccines and drugs that we have mastered, we generally have the following counterfeiting methods: 1. Direct counterfeiting. From the packaging, labeling, anti-counterfeiting, and internal drugs, all the corresponding product manufacturers are counterfeited. Some use injection water, saline, glucose, and other vaccine adjuvant formula ingredients (similar in appearance to vaccines) purchased directly from the market to directly counterfeit (the cost is only a few cents). The characteristics are that they do not contain any effective immune ingredients, the number of counterfeit vaccine batches is large, and they can be sold domestically and abroad through indirect channels such as multinational e-commerce. 2. Replacement of labels for counterfeiting. Use other types of pre-filled vaccine preparations with similar appearances, replace the packaging labels, or smear and change the printed fonts to counterfeit; this counterfeiting model is characterized by convenient operation, similar-looking products are easily available in the market (such as influenza vaccines, other expired vaccines, etc.), and micro-injection has almost no obvious toxic side effects; but due to the limited number of products obtained, different gangs will have more counterfeit versions. 3. Replacement of drugs for counterfeiting. Directly through various channels (such as: through illegal drug dealers, nurses, caregivers, cleaners, garbage collectors, etc.), collect the packaging boxes, labels, pre-filled injection equipment, etc. of the original regular manufacturers, re-fill them with drugs with similar appearance to counterfeit, and even re-fill the pre-filled vaccine injections into the original packaging of the original factory for sale. Counterfeiting characteristics: The scale of counterfeiting by changing medicines will not be large, but the "point distribution" is highly concealed. Influenza vaccine (mostly colorless and clear); new crown vaccine (generally slightly turbid or slightly turbid due to differences in process formula) 4. Interchange use. It usually occurs in the process of vaccination and use of vaccines in very few outlets of medical institutions. Because of the doubts about the benefits of selling at a high price, various means are used to tamper with and interchange the use. There are mainly the following methods: Change of medicine: Some very few medical institutions’ vaccine injection staff will privately re-extract and fill the used packaging and pre-filled syringes with saline and glucose injection, and then store them in the original packaging box for safekeeping, and do a good job of appearance packaging marking for reuse, which is generally difficult to be discovered.

Interception: When using vaccines, due to the small amount of vaccines themselves, the general amount of the new crown vaccine is 0.5 ml each time, the needle tube advancement distance is not obvious, the injection is not complete and thorough, and the person being injected is generally difficult to notice. In addition, the vials packaged in multiple doses have greater loopholes, and 4 doses are secretly used to inject 5-6 people. Although it is usually necessary to match the vaccination barcode with the vaccine person's information for registration, loopholes are inevitable. Some people swap the packaging boxes of their own vaccine recipients and use them interchangeably on the spot like a magic trick. This method is easy to avoid the patient's sight, and it is almost impossible to verify and detect after use. If it is found that the swapped drugs have been used, it is almost impossible to collect evidence and test them again.

Mixing: Genuine and fake drugs are mixed together and used, especially in mass vaccinations, which leaves room for large loopholes.

In order to prevent the above situations from occurring, loopholes can be rigorously eliminated through multiple steps, including verification and checking by multiple people including the user, and the immediate "destruction" of the syringe after vaccination, to prevent substitution and counterfeiting.

06

How can the general public more easily distinguish fake "new coronavirus vaccines"?

Since the identification technology of pharmaceutical products is very professional, and the identification technology of biological products and vaccines is even more professional, as a general consumer, in addition to going to regular places to get the new crown vaccine to prevent counterfeiting, it is a relatively easy method to use traceability (traceability) information verification. In addition, we also introduce several simple identification methods for preliminary reference from the perspective of general experience and appearance, which are called "one check, two look, and three comparisons". One check: check the source, and "traceability information code verification" to verify the authenticity of the "new crown vaccine". We can verify the special traceability code in the packaging mark by scanning with a mobile phone or querying on the Internet: At present, the "traceability information code" and "code on peace of mind" in the packaging mark of medicines and other listed products are very common, but the new crown vaccine has not yet been officially launched or is in the research stage, and it is generally not marked with "traceability information code" and "code on peace of mind". Only in the stage of large-scale production and large-scale market application (or conditional market) will the manufacturer upload all information such as production batch number, production date and expiration date to the "traceability information code" or "code on peace of mind" system platform in a timely manner. Consumers and relevant regulatory inspections and medical institutions should pay special attention to this when accepting and using it. In addition, the "traceability information code" and "code on peace of mind" in normal packaging labels are all personalized codes, and each box is different. There are also several ways for criminals to counterfeit "traceability information code" and "code on peace of mind". Be vigilant: one is repeated printing of codes (the traceability code value of each packaging box is the same); the second is to replace the packaging code (using the original genuine packaging box); the third is to randomly forge codes (although it is a personalized code, it cannot be verified). The marking, query verification, and use principles of "traceability information code" and "code on peace of mind" in the packaging labels of some foreign pharmaceutical products and my country are basically similar. At present, most of them can be effectively queried by scanning the traceability barcode or QR code in the packaging label through a mobile phone. This method is also called extended information verification (source tracing method). It is to track the source of vaccines, verify the qualifications of manufacturers, verify the qualifications of products, confirm administrative supervision, review network data, query barcodes, registration numbers, and verify import and export products. Second, look at the turbidity and the label. Look at the turbidity: the clarity and characteristics of the appearance: the new crown vaccine is often the same as other vaccines. The number of injections is very small, and the appearance differences are relatively small. Generally, the only difference is the packaging and packaging form: but the clarity (turbidity) characteristics of the new crown vaccine are obviously turbid (the degree of turbidity varies from manufacturer to manufacturer, and there is obvious flocculent precipitation after standing). If you use physiological saline, water for injection, influenza vaccine and other counterfeit new crown vaccines, they are relatively clear and colorless, with almost no precipitation. Look at the label: the characteristics of the label on the inside of the vaccine: the genuine manufacturer automatically labels each one evenly, flatly and neatly; the counterfeits are mostly hand-painted and altered with text, and hand-painted labels. The position is uneven, and there are obvious stains or fingerprints on the surface. Three comparisons: compare the batch number, process, and anti-counterfeiting to compare the digital consistency of the batch number marked inside and outside; compare the regularity of printing and packaging (handmade or automatic process); compare whether the anti-counterfeiting mark (or temperature-sensitive mark sensitivity) is the same as the manufacturer's product;

07

What specific harms will counterfeit "new crown vaccines" cause? How to most effectively prevent risks?

So what specific harm will the counterfeit "new crown vaccine" cause, and how to effectively prevent risks? Regarding its harm, we have summarized five points: 1. No immune effect: After vaccination, there is no functional effect, no antibodies can be produced, and it cannot play an immune role in preventing and controlling the new coronavirus. 2. Personal injury: impurity contamination, microbial contamination, and contamination of other ingredients can all cause harm to the human body. 3. Corporate harm: In terms of economic damage and corporate reputation, counterfeiting occupies a certain market, which will inevitably affect the market share of formal enterprises. If the society does not understand, it will inevitably tarnish the image of formal enterprises; 4. Social harm: Panic caused by the epidemic and social credibility; it is very easy to cause the spread of the epidemic, and the control of social governance will decline. "Taking advantage of others' dangers" also makes the lawless elements who plunder by trickery and plunder benefit, and the social wealth resources flow abnormally. 5. National harm: At present, especially in the severe situation of the global fight against the epidemic and the politically sensitive period, the "fake vaccine" marked on a certain country will also directly affect a country's international political reputation. Some extreme evil countries use this to discredit and hype. As an ordinary consumer, it is difficult to accurately distinguish the authenticity of the "new crown vaccine". However, if you know a little about the relevant knowledge, there are still ways to effectively prevent counterfeit vaccines. The following necessary measures can generally help us avoid harm. First, strictly follow the relevant national regulations, correctly understand the new crown vaccine, and scientifically, rationally and objectively understand the function of vaccine prevention and control. Believe in the country, guarantee not to believe in rumors, do not spread rumors, and immediately contact the relevant departments to report when encountering suspicious elements who contact privately. Second, you should go to regular designated outlets to get the vaccine; strictly perform identity registration and take the initiative to record the traceability code information of the vaccine used (take photos); check the used vaccine packaging needles and instruments on site for "destruction treatment"; third, after a certain period of time after vaccination, it is best to do an antibody test in time if conditions permit (generally unified group organization inspections will be faster and easier to find problems: vaccine quality, authenticity, and vaccination). Fourth, when you are harmed by suspected counterfeit vaccines and question the quality of vaccines, you should consult, complain, and report in a timely manner.

08

How to make complaints when you find a suspected counterfeit "new crown vaccine"?

In general, we analyze the trend of counterfeiting and selling fake vaccines as follows: the number of counterfeit domestic vaccines (late stage of vaccine launch) will continue to increase, mainly through e-commerce platforms; counterfeit imported vaccines (mid-late stage of vaccine launch) will also increase in a few months; fake vaccines will appear in local areas; the printed packaging logo is in foreign fonts, the packaging is counterfeit imported vaccines, and the reasons such as "strong anti-mutant virus ability" are relatively confusing. It is expected that fake vaccine incidents will occur sporadically in local areas. Judging from the loopholes in the management, production, circulation and use of vaccines, there are many links to prevent counterfeiting, and timely reporting is crucial. We can report to the following departments: 1. Complaint and Reporting Center of the Market Supervision Administration; 2. Health administrative departments; 3. Public Security Food and Drug Criminal Investigation Related Institutions (major cases); 4. Relevant communities and other competent units; provide: relevant evidence, bills, physical samples, audio and video, pictures, communication records, etc. Appendix: In order to provide everyone with a more comprehensive understanding, several domestic statutory and innovative technical methods (professional authenticity identification technology) are also listed here. Of course, the specific technical details are not suitable for public disclosure. 1. National legal standard inspection and identification methods (biological identification technology methods); 2. Rapid detection and screening technology methods (multi-band spectral analysis technology detection, microscopic identification, physical constant detection); 3. Information tracing (tracing back) verification and comparison holographic verification method; 4. Intelligent big data similarity verification and comparison method; 5. Inspection and investigation comprehensive analysis technology methods. Since this article is positioned as a popular science, in order to prevent counterfeiters from breaking speculation, more professional and detailed internal identification technology is not listed for the time being. I hope everyone will be vigilant and not fall into the trap of speculators.

(China's "emergency listing" vaccine)

Editor | Liang Jin

Editor | Gao Peiwen

This article is produced by the "Science Rumor Refutation Platform" (ID: Science_Facts). Please indicate the source when reprinting.