Group warns of scams involving empty Covid-19 vaccine vials

Pittsburgh — At the Hilltop Pharmacy in Allentown, staff has administered nearly 3000 Covid-19 vaccinations. But they said the empty vials are still in demand.

“It’s just another scam,” said pharmacist Pat Lavella.

The Healthcare Distribution Alliance is a national organization that represents primary pharmaceutical distributors. Recently they put out a warning to pharmacists that it’s probably a good idea to destroy empty Moderna vials.

“They had asked us to break the bottles or smash them so they cannot be taken by someone else, sold or resold somewhere or refilled with something that we know is not going to be the vaccine to be the vaccine,” Lavella said.

Lavella said the alliance told him and other pharmacists they received reports of the vaccine being sold on eBay, and in some cases empty vials as well.

WPXI did a quick search on eBay and didn’t find any full or empty Moderna vials, we did see sales for empty vaccine vials from other pharmaceutical companies. But Lavella says he never anticipated a warning like this one.

“It would’ve never crossed my mind that there is a group of people out there who would be willing to do this for a profit,” Lavella said.

Lavella said vaccine should not come with a cost and if someone is asking for payment, Lavella is advising that people refuse.

“We don’t pay to get the product, it’s provided by the federal government,” he said. “There’s a set up distribution system that is available for this and it should cost them nothing out of their pocket.”

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