The Pharmaceutical Society of Kenya (PSK) has warned personalities against marketing brands of Covid-19 vaccines to the public using social media pages.
In a statement to newsrooms, PSK President Louis Machogu termed it as unethical and a move disallowed by the Pharmacy and Poisons Board Regulations.
“The said marketing could also inadvertently lead to increase in proliferation of fake medicines in the country,” Dr Machogu said.
The PSK boss further cautioned Kenyans on cases of global trade in falsified Covid-19 vaccines that target popularised brands.
Also Read: Sputnik V not approved for emergency use in Kenya – Dr Amoth
He reiterated that it is against regulations to market brands of medicines to the general public making them seem better than registered medicines or even lacking side effects.
“You increase your chances of getting safe, efficacious and effective medicines by visiting your healthcare team at your regular registered healthcare facility and getting a treatment or vaccination plan,” the PSK President said.
PSK has urged all Kenyans including the authorities and regulators to remain vigilant, protect and uphold public interest.
“We do not want to see the public exploited, times are hard and trying enough as it is already,” Dr Machogu said.
Even though it did not mention anyone, the statement by PSK appears to be a response to a move by two prominent lawyers in the country, Ahmednassir Abdullahi alias Grand Mulla and Donald Kipkorir to publicize their vaccination Tuesday.
In their official Twitter handles, the two lawyers posted their images while being administered with Sputnik V vaccine.
And they did not stop there as they each posed for a picture in front of a banner stating why the Russian jab was good and their pictures being shared by influencers using the #SputnikVaccineInKenya to market the vaccine.
This, it seems, did not go down well with PSK which insists that all Covid-19 vaccines approved for use in Kenya have been authorized under emergency use only.
