Virus Vaccines Are 'Liquid Gold' to Organized Crime, Interpol Warns
December 03 2020 - 7:37AM
Dow Jones News
By James Hookway
Criminal gangs will likely attempt to get their hands on
supplies of new Covid-19 vaccines, international police
organization Interpol warned, potentially disrupting supplies of
the crucial shots as they become available.
The agency issued a global orange notice -- which it describes
as a serious and imminent threat to public safety -- to its 194
members, calling the vaccines "liquid gold," and warned counterfeit
vaccines or coronavirus tests could become a growing problem as
international travel gradually resumes in the months to come.
"As governments are preparing to roll out vaccines, criminal
organizations are planning to infiltrate or disrupt supply chains,"
Interpol Secretary-General Jürgen Stock said late Wednesday. "It is
essential that law enforcement is as prepared as possible for what
will be an onslaught of all types of criminal activity linked to
the Covid-19 vaccine."
Interpol issued the warning after the U.K. became the first
country to grant emergency-use authorization for a vaccine.
Developed by Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE, rollout could start next
week. Regulators in the U.S. and other countries are now evaluating
the new two-shot vaccine and other candidates before authorizing
them for distribution. Over 3,000 people were reported to have died
from Covid-19 in the U.S. on Wednesday, the highest figure since
the pandemic began. Pfizer has already begun shipping shots to
distribution sites in anticipation of gaining approval from the
Food and Drug Administration, which is planning to review the
vaccine on Dec. 10 and could authorize its use soon after.
However, criminals would face the same logistical challenges as
the drug companies in shipping and storing the Pfizer-BioNTech
vaccine and another candidate produced by Moderna Inc.
Both vaccines use new technology that uses mRNA, the molecular
couriers that carry genetic instructions to cells in the human
body. They prompt cells to make a synthetic version of the spike
protein that juts out from the surface of the coronavirus that
causes Covid-19, triggering the immune response needed to defend
against it.
Trials indicate the vaccines are effective, with an efficacy
rate of 95% in the case of the Pfizer vaccine. But they have to be
kept at super-cold temperatures that require freezer boxes packed
with dry ice and are equipped with thermo-sensors to ensure safe
delivery.
A more traditional vaccine candidate, developed by Oxford
University and AstraZeneca, is easier to ship.
Interpol didn't immediately respond to questions on whether
there was evidence that criminal organizations had already obtained
the equipment needed to distribute vaccines safely.
Criminal groups have already attempted to take advantage of the
pandemic, hoarding supplies of personal protective equipment in
some instances, Interpol said, or illegally selling medicines
online. As legitimate vaccines are rolled out, criminals may
attempt to sell or advertise fake vaccines or Covid tests, the
organization warned, which could undermine trust in the broader
supply chain and, potentially, risk lives.
There has already been an uptick in global cybercrime as various
lockdown regimes were enforced and people spent more time online.
Interpol's cybercrime unit has identified about 3,000 websites
suspected of selling illicit medicines and medical equipment, and
over half of those also harbored phishing and spamming
software.
Hackers have used a range of ransomware to attack hospitals and
health-care facilities in several countries as they were gearing up
to handle the first wave of Covid-19 infections. Police officials
at the time said ransomware attacks, which encrypt files and make
it impossible for victims to access data unless they pay to
retrieve it, could be particularly damaging during a major health
crisis like the current pandemic.
They included a cyberattack that disrupted services at a
hospital in the Czech Republic administering coronavirus tests, and
a public-health district in Illinois paid hackers $350,000 to
decrypt data after a ransomware attack.
Write to James Hookway at james.hookway@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
December 03, 2020 08:22 ET (13:22 GMT)
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