The Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine received emergency-use authorisation from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) last Friday. Earlier this week, the first doses were administered to health care workers in the United States. This follows the approval and administration of the first doses of the vaccine in the UK and Canada. While this news signifies the beginning of the end to the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic, it also brings an opportunity for people with less desirable motives.
Detailed plans are being implemented by public health officials regarding the distribution of the vaccine that would give preference to certain groups that are at higher risk of suffering complications from the virus. Most people who are not in the high risk groups may have to wait a year or more to be vaccinated depending on where they reside. As with any high demand item that has a regulated and limited availability, a black market will inevitably form for those people who do not wish to wait their turn and have the financial means to skip the line.
This will be especially true once vaccination becomes a pre-requisite to engage in certain activities such as travelling. Alan Joyce, the CEO of Australia’s Qantas Airline has already stated publically that the COVID-19 vaccine will be required for any passenger travelling internationally on his airline once they resume international flights in 2021. Joyce believes this will become the standard amongst other carriers in the airline industry. I believe many other industries that are fearful of COVID-19 related lawsuits stemming from employees or customers becoming infected at their place of business will implement similar vaccine requirements. If so, many younger people who are not deemed high risk by public health officials, but want to get back to doing things such as travelling may be willing to obtain the vaccine through other means rather than waiting their turn.
There will be several avenues for criminals to target when it comes to the vaccine. First is the vaccine itself. Because the Pfizer product requires special storage at -70C and requires administration of a second dosage, a black market may not immediately form for the vaccine. There are however products such as the Johnson & Johnson vaccine that require no special storage and are in final stages of testing. Once vaccines like this are approved for mass distribution, you can bet a black market will be formed. This will create vulnerability in the logistical network and inside medical facilities where the vaccines will be stored. Organised criminal networks could target the supply chain and storage facilities to procure the vaccine to satisfy the demand of the black market. Unscrupulous medical professionals could also be targeted in bribery schemes to have vaccinations administered to people unwilling to wait their turn.
Another black market that will surely form will be for counterfeit vaccination records. Once proof of the vaccination is required to engage in certain activities criminals will start counterfeiting or forging that proof. Health care professionals being bribed to falsely sign off that someone was vaccinated is also probable. Several people have already been arrested for forging false COVID-19 test results in order to travel to a destination that has implemented restrictions. At Paris’s Charles de Gaulle Airport, the Associated Press reported counterfeit COVID-19 test results were recently being sold for €150-300.
Scams regarding the COVID-19 vaccines are also a possibility. Unproven vaccines from China have been reported to be in circulation already. Scammers in China have also been reported collecting money for “pre-orders” of vaccines that turn out to be non-existent or fake.
Detailed plans are being implemented by public health officials regarding the distribution of the vaccine that would give preference to certain groups that are at higher risk of suffering complications from the virus. Most people who are not in the high-risk groups may have to wait a year or more to be vaccinated depending on where they reside. As with any high demand item that has a regulated and limited availability, a black market will inevitably form for those people who do not wish to wait their turn and have the financial means to skip the line. ed in the vaccination programme should be aware of the dangers of a COVID-19 vaccine black market and implement a security risk management plan to control and mitigate any vulnerabilities.
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