THE Zambia Medicines Regulatory Authority (ZAMRA) has seized and destroyed 10, 000 doses of Covid-19 vaccines valued at US$150, 000.
ZAMRA Senior Public Relations Officer, Christabel Iliamupu, said the vaccine was not registered by the institution for use on the Zambian market, neither was it listed under World Health Organisation Emergency Use Listing procedure.
She named the vaccine as Hayat-Vax, inactivated,
Ms Iliamupu said the importer did not have a pharmaceutical licence to sell, store, distribute or supply.
She added that the importer did not have an import permit to authorise importation.
According to Ms Iliamupu, the Covid-19 vaccines were imported by Chrismar Earthmoving Equipment and is purported to have been manufactured by Gulf Pharmaceutical Industries in the United Arab Emirates.
Ms Iliamupu sounded a warning to importers of medicine to do so legally or risk facing the law.
“We wish to urge all those wishing to import medicines and allied substances for use on the Zambian market to ensure that the right processes and procedures are followed in accordance with the Medicines and Allied Substances Act No. 3 of 2013 in order to avoid stringent regulatory and legal action,” she said. – ZANIS.
