Crims try to cash in on Covid
European Union police agency Europol has issued a warning about the risk of organised crime scams linked to Covid-19 vaccines, including the possibility that criminals will try to sell dangerous counterfeit vaccines or hijack shipments of genuine shots.
In an ‘‘early warning notification’’, Europol said crime gangs had already reacted to opportunities presented by the coronavirus pandemic.
‘‘Once a legitimate vaccine enters the market, counterfeited versions of the specific vaccine brand are expected to circulate rapidly,’’ the agency said, citing a phony flu vaccine that the World Health Organisation discovered in Mexico in October.
‘‘Counterfeit Covid-19 vaccines may represent a significant public health threat if they are ineffective at best or toxic at worst,’’ Europol said. ‘‘Fake vaccines may even have a wider-reaching impact if new outbreaks emerge in communities assumed to be vaccinated.’’
Britain this week granted emergency approval to a vaccine produced by United States drugmaker Pfizer and Germanybased BioNTech, making Britain the first Western country to authorise a vaccine.
Europol, which is based in The Hague, said it was aware of criminals placing advertisements on dark web marketplaces ‘‘using the brands of genuine pharmaceutical companies that are already in the final stages of testing’’.
The agency said criminal networks also could target the
supply chain for genuine vaccines, such as by illegally refilling empty vials if they were not correctly disposed of, or hijacking vehicles transporting vaccines.
Bahrain yesterday became the second nation to grant an emergency-use authorisation for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. With a population of just 1.6 million, Bahrain has reported more than 87,000 cases and 341 deaths.
After nine long months of shutdowns, Sydney is gearing up to celebrate ‘‘Freedom Day’’
tomorrow, when restrictions on pubs, clubs and restaurants will be lifted in time for the Christmas party season.
Australia’s largest city, which has had only one infection this week, has announced a ‘‘major easing’’ of restrictions, with caps lifted on numbers allowed at weddings and other events. Rules are being relaxed for dancefloors, theatres and stadiums – and parties are planned across the city.
‘‘Last year bushfires robbed us of Christmas,’’ said New South Wales Deputy Premier
John Barilaro. ‘‘Covid is not going to rob us of Christmas.’’
NSW Treasurer Dominic Perrottet said the easing of restrictions was an economic decision, as well as one based on health advice. ‘‘The pubs have told us that today’s announcement is 9000 new jobs right across our state,’’ he said.
The United Nations health chief says positive results from coronavirus vaccine trials are encouraging, but is warning against poorer nations being left behind in ‘‘the stampede for vaccines’’.
World Health Organisation Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said yesterday vaccines must be shared ‘‘as global public goods’’.
Tedros urged all nations to unite and build a post-pandemic world by investing in vaccines, preparedness against the next pandemic, and basic public health measures.
He said Covax, an ambitious but troubled global project to buy and deliver virus vaccines for the world’s poorest people, faced a US$4.3 billion (NZ$9b) gap and needed US$23.9b (NZ$33.9b) for 2021.
■ Dr Anthony Fauci, the US’s chief infectious disease expert, says there was never a question that he would accept Presidentelect Joe Biden’s offer to serve as his chief medical officer and adviser on the coronavirus pandemic.
‘‘I said yes right on the spot’’ after Biden asked him to serve, Fauci said yesterday.
As director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Fauci has served several presidents, Republican and Democratic. During Donald Trump’s administration, he has been largely sidelined as Trump gave rosy assessments of the virus and insisted it would fade away.
Fauci also apologised for suggesting that British authorities rushed their authorisation of a Covid-19 vaccine, saying he had ‘‘great faith’’ in the country’s regulators. He sparked controversy this week with an interview in which he said British regulators hadn’t acted ‘‘as carefully’’ as the US Food and Drug Administration.