Black Market Chinese COVID-19 Vaccines Poses a Significant Threat to China’s Vaccine Push in Developing Countries

News that Chinese-made COVID-19 vaccines were smuggled into the Philippines sparked concern around the world that the already thriving black market trade in counterfeit pharmaceuticals will inevitably extend to the coronavirus vaccine.

Lebogang Mokoena, a columnist for the South African newspaper Financial Mail, made the case that Africa is well-positioned to fall victim to the use of bogus vaccines, given its place at the back of the line for access to jabs and the already ubiquitous presence of counterfeit Chinese and Indian pharmaceuticals in some African countries.

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