PNP: Buyers of COVID-19 vaccines to face raps

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine National Police (PNP) has warned that people caught buying COVID-19 vaccines would face criminal charges.

PNP chief Gen. Guillermo Eleazar said both buyers and sellers of COVID-19 vaccines should be held criminally liable.

Eleazar said COVID-19 vaccines should not be used for profit as these are free for qualified Filipinos.

He said the willingness of some people to obtain vaccines in exchange for cash is emboldening illegal sellers.

“We will make sure that they are held accountable. But they will not be emboldened if there are no buyers,” Eleazar said.

“We are warning the people not to patronize these sellers because you will be charged for this,” he added.

Eleazar made the statement following the arrest of Alexis de Guzman, a nurse at the Gat Andres Bonifacio Memorial Medical Center in Manila, along with a medical technologist and a Chinese for allegedly selling 300 doses of Sinovac vaccine worth P840,000.

Police are also looking into vaccination slot-for-sale schemes in several parts of Metro Manila.

Eleazar urged the public to give information that could lead to the arrest of people selling COVID-19 vaccines.

“Remember that the vaccines being sold by these unscrupulous people are allotted to Filipinos for free,” Eleazar said.

Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said he ordered the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to intensify its operations against sellers of COVID-19 vaccines in Metro Manila.

“The NBI is focusing on the National Capital Region where the demand for vaccines is high,” Guevarra said.

Meanwhile, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is tracing the sources of the COVID-19 vaccines being sold illegally.

“We are tracing the sources, the lot and batch numbers and where these vaccines were distributed,” FDA chief Eric Domingo said.

Domingo said the FDA needed to determine if the vaccines were smuggled into the country or stolen from the government’s supply.

“If these were smuggled, it means the vaccines are not accounted for and unregistered with the FDA,” he said. “If the vaccines came from the government’s supply, it will affect our immunization program.”

Domingo said smuggled vaccines may pose health hazards to the public.

He said those selling COVID-19 vaccines would be held liable.

“Siguradong may kaso laban sa kanila because these vaccines cannot be sold commercially,” Domingo said. – Evelyn Macairan, Mayen Jaymalin