Vials of fake vaccine stamped with the logo of an Israeli research institute are selling for up to $380 each in South America.
By World Israel News Staff
Vials of a fake and potentially dangerous liquid with the logo of an Israeli research institute are being sold as a coronavirus vaccine in South America, Channel 12 News reported Wednesday.
The glass vials look like medicine ampules and have the logo of the Migal Institute in northern Israel, which last month reported progress on a new vaccine but is only starting human trials this summer.
The report said the phony vaccines are being sold in several countries, including Ecuador, where a single dose is selling for up to $380.
Migal’s director, David Zigdon, thanked Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which conducted an in-depth investigation into the affair and alerted the World Health Organization and the foreign ministries of relevant South American nations about the fake vaccines.
Migal has been working on a new oral coronavirus vaccine for the past four years and developed a vaccine for coronavirus in poultry that it is now adapting for humans. However, the vaccine is nowhere near ready because the human trials have not even started yet.
Several Israeli researchers have reported progress on developing treatments for the coronavirus, but experts caution not to expect anything soon, even though the World Health Organization reported last week that eight candidate vaccines are already in clinical evaluation and 100 other vaccines are in pre-clinical testing.
One scientist at the Israel Institute for Biological Research said the monoclonal antibody they isolated is a positive discovery and a great success for the lab, but they still have big question marks about whether or not a drug made from the antibodies will work on humans.