TIZ Horrified By COVID-19 Vaccine Scandal

Transparency International Zambia (TIZ) have said that they are horrified at the revelations that unauthorised COVID-19 vaccines had been imported into the country.

Speaking on the matter, TIZ President Sampa Kalungu questioned why the vaccines were on their way to the country in the first place.

“TIZ is horrified by the revelations made….concerning fake COVID vaccines that were illegally imported into Zambia and subsequently destroyed by the Zambia Medicines Regulatory Authority (ZAMRA),” Kalungu stated.

“To start with, under what circumstances was a private company that did not have an import permit from ZAMRA allowed to import COVID vaccines?” He questioned. Kalungu added that “This is not even to mention the fact that the said company, belonging to Mr Valden Findlay, is actually one that deals with earth-moving equipment rather than medical supplies of any sort.”

The vaccines, which had been imported by a close associate of former President Lungu, also do not meet the standards of the World Health Organisation, subsequently raising further questions about the legitimacy of their importation.

The Ministry of Health have distanced itself from the illegal vaccines, stating that they had nothing to do with them.