How to identify fake covid-19 vaccines? guidelines issued by UHM, GOI. False vaccines are in circulation

Amid warning issued by the World Health Organisation (WHO) over the sale of exact imitation doses of Covishield vaccine in South East Asia and Africa in view of the falsified products were reported to WHO in July and August 2021.

The Union Health Ministry on (Teacher's day) September 5, shared a list of specifications with the states and Union territories to identify the authentic versions of Covishield, Covaxin and Sputnik V. These three vaccines  currently being used for the mass injection camping in India. This guidelines stands with other countries also to identify vaccine originality.

Here are the specifications to check whether Covishield vaccine is authentic:

- Label colour shade is dark green, as per approved art work while colour of the aluminium flip off seal is dark green.

- Brand name with trademark is mentioned on the original vaccine

- The lettering is printed in special white ink to be more clear and readable. The general trend is to keep white lettering in reverse and just print the solid color. The text font of the Generic name is in un-bold

- The SII logo is printed at a unique angle and position which can be only identified by a select few who are aware of the exact details

- The entire label has been given a special texture honeycomb effect which is visible only at a specific angle. To make it foolproof, the honeycomb design has also been altered slightly at certain strategic locations.

Here are the specifications to check whether Covaxin vaccine is authentic:

- Invisible UV helix on label which is only visible under UV light

- Micro Text hidden in label claims Dots, which is written as Covaxin

- Holographic effect has been given on Covaxin.

Here are the specifications to check whether Sputnik V vaccine is authentic:

- Imported products are from two different bulk manufacturing sites from Russia and hence, there are two different labels for both these sites. While all the information and design is the same, only the manufacturer name is different.

- For all the imported products till now, the English label is only available on the front and back of the carton of 5 ampoule pack while for all other sides, including the primary label on the ampoule, is in Russian.

The guidelines came nearly a month after Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said the government is probing the claims of duplicate Covishield vaccines being allegedly sold by criminal elements.

Issue has been raised that duplicate versions of the Covishield vaccine were sold in the country. The Indian government is probing this claim and will take action if they found any substance to the allegations, Mr. Mandaviya said.

The genuine manufacturer of Covishield is Serum Institute of India Pvt. Ltd. Covaxin is being manufactured and sold by Hyderabad based Bharat Biotech Limited. whereas, Russian made Sputnik V is being procured and supplied by its registered domestic pharmaceutical partners including Dr Reddy's Laboratories.