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Black Market: Vaccines are being sold at Rs 80,000 using cryptocurrency

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As cities and states struggle to vaccinate long waitlists of people in a timely manner, some seeking protection against the novel coronavirus are turning to dubious online marketplaces.

As many as 30% of these black market offerings might be legitimate, culled from leftover stock , according to a report published March 4 by the cybersecurity firm Kaspersky

However, getting a vaccine this way isn’t worth the risk, experts say, since it’s hard to know what you’re getting. If you are lucky enough to get the real thing online, it may not even safe or effective, since vaccines can be tricky to store and transport.

Hundreds of vaccine doses have been sold online

Kaspersky experts found online marketplace ads for of all three major vaccines (from Pfizer, Moderna, and AstraZeneca). The asking price ranged from $250 to $1,200, averaging about $500 per dose, and sellers almost always requested payment in bitcoin, a cryptocurrency that’s difficult to track.

There was also an array of counterfeit vaccine offerings from unverified sources, as well as ads requesting “donations” instead of payments.

The researchers were able to find that most of the sellers were located in France, Germany, the UK, and the US, and many had completed hundreds of vaccine sale transactions.

Experts have said that it’s conceivable at least some of these sales were of legitimate vaccines, possibly pocketed from a pharmacy or hospital surplus and sold online.

“There is evidence that suggests some of these sellers are providing real doses,” said Dmitry Galov, the Kaspersky researcher who led the study, told CBS News. “There are pictures of packaging and medical certificates. It looks like some of these people do have inside access to medical institutions.”

Kaspersky also reported multiple positive reviews on some of the listings, although it’s impossible to verify if these are real or fabricated.

Vaccines need to be stored correctly to work

Even if real vaccines are being offered for sale, it’s not clear that the vaccines are within their shelf life for safe and effective use.

Previously, doses near their expiration date have been a major source of unexpected vaccinations for some lucky patients. It’s conceivable that expired doses were discarded, only to be snapped up and resold online.

Experts also can’t determine if the black market vaccines have been stored correctly. Moderna and Pfizer need to be stored at extremely low temperatures, making them logistically difficult to transport. That’s because the vaccines rely on messenger RNA, which can be fragile. A deep freeze prevents it from breaking down. As a result, a vaccine that’s been exposed to warmer temps might be ineffective.

The report concludes that while people are understandably eager to get vaccinated against COVID-19, the safest bet for your wallet and health is to wait your turn.

Corona

Covid toll in Karnataka is a worrying sign for state government

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Even though Karnataka recorded the lowest number of Covid deaths in April since the virus struck first in 2020, the state is recording a rise in the positivity rate (1.50 per cent). Five people died from the Covid infections in April as per the statistics released by the state health department. In March, the positivity rate stood around 0.53 per cent. In the first week of April it came down to 0.38 per cent, second week registered 0.56 per cent, third week it rose to 0.79 per cent and by end of April the Covid positivity rate touched 1.19 per cent.

on an average 500 persons used to succumb everyday in the peak of Covid infection, as per the data. Health experts said that the mutated Coronavirus is losing its fierce characteristics as vaccination, better treatment facilities and awareness among the people have contributed to the lesser number of Covid deaths.

During the 4th and 6th of April two deaths were reported in Bengaluru, one in Gadag district on April 8, two deaths were reported from Belagavi and Vijayapura on April 30. The first Covid case was reported in the state in March 2020 and three Covid deaths were recorded in the month. In the following month 21 people became victims to the deadly virus, and May 2020 recorded 22 deaths. The death toll recorded everyday after May crossed three digits. However, the third wave, which started in January 2

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