Refrain from purchasing unapproved COVID-19 vaccines – FDA warns public

Ghana’s Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) has issued a warning to the general public to refrain from purchasing unapproved COVID-19 vaccine from health care centres.

This comes after the FDA in a statement said its attention has been drawn to reports that “some unscrupulous members of the business community are peddling information on the sale of COVID-19 vaccines to hospitals and other health facilities”.

The statement added, “The information is ostensibly to inform the general public of the availability of these vaccines from well-known pharmaceutical brands indicating their price ranges.”

For now, there’s a COVID-19 vaccine roll out in countries like China, Russia, the United States of America and the United Kingdom after it commenced clinical and human trials for the use of the vaccine.

Ghana’s President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo in December 2020, assured citizens government was working to procure COVID-19 vaccines for use by March 2021 once they are available.

The FDA has however warned the public against the patronage of illegitimate vaccines already surfacing in some health facilities.

“The general public is hereby cautioned against the patronage of such vaccines since the FDA has not yet approved any COVID-19 vaccine for use in Ghana. In view of the above, the FDA wishes to inform all health facilities and the general public that, peddling of such information contravenes Section 118 of the Public Health Act 2012, Act 851 and constitutes a very serious offence.”

“Anyone caught dealing with unregistered COVID-19 vaccine will be sanctioned in accordance with the provisions of Section 129 of Act 851, which includes a fine of up to GH¢180,000 or to a term of imprisonment of up to 25 years or both,” the FDA cautioned.

See the statement below: