Centre issues guidelines to identify fake COVID-19 vaccines, here's all you need to know

Amid India's vaccination drive, the Centre on Sunday issued a list of guidelines to identify fake COVID-19 vaccines. This comes after the World Health Organisation (WHO) warned of counterfeit doses of COVID-19 vaccines. Therefore, the Health Ministry has shared a list of parameters to identify the authentic version of the vaccines that are currently being used for inoculation in India - Covishield, Covaxin and Sputnik V.

Parameters to check the authencity of Covishield vaccine

• The label colour shade on the Covishield vaccine is dark green, as per the approved art work while the colour of the aluminium flip off seal is dark green.
• The brand name with trademark is mentioned on the original vaccine
• The lettering on the vaccine is printed in special white ink to be more clear and readable. 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 persons 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 locations.

Parameters to check the authenticity of Covaxin

• There is an invisible UV helix on label which is only visible under the UV light
• The micro text hidden in label claims Dots, which is written as Covaxin
• In addition, a holographic effect has been given on Covaxin

Parameters to check the authenticity of Sputnik V

• As for Sputnik, the imported products are from two different bulk manufacturing sites from Russia, therefore 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.

COVID-19 vaccination in India

According to the Health Ministry, India's cumulative vaccination coverage has exceeded 68.46 crores, as per the data on Sunday. In addition, more than 71 lakh doses were administered in last 24 hours, it said.