The Centre, on Saturday, shared a list of parameters to the states to identify which COVID-19 vaccines are fake and which are not. This comes with the reports of the increasing use of fake versions of Covidshield in the international market. The rise of fake vaccines prompted the World Health Organization to flag it as a concern.

According to a report in NDTV, the Health Ministry, in a letter to the states, mentioned the parameters that will help identify a fake or a genuine vaccine. The letter added that the parameters were prepared with information from the manufacturers of Covishield, Covaxin and Sputnik V. These three vaccines are currently being used in the Indian market.

The letter has details on the label, colour, other details that are used by the makers.

Various media reports claimed that the fake Covishield versions had been seized in Southeast Asia and Africa, in large numbers.

Some sections of the media reports also claimed that some of them are also being sold in India.

While the world health body has sounded an alert, the Centre has also launched an inquiry based on the reports.

“It has been claimed that duplicate versions of Covishield vaccine were sold in the country. The Indian government is probing this claim and will take action if it found any substance to the allegations,” Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said last month.

“At present, three vaccines are available in India – Covishield, Covaxin and Sputnik. In the coming days, three more vaccines would arrive, including one from Zydus Cadila. The other two will be from Genova and Biological Evans,” he said.

Since the start of the vaccination drive in January, the government has administered vaccine doses to 68 crore beneficiaries, with more than 62.25 lakh vaccine doses being administered on Saturday. India has been running the largest vaccination drive against COVID-19 since January 16 this year.

India witnessed an increase in cases registered for the fifth consecutive day, the Union Health Ministry said on Sunday. With 42,766 people testing positive, India’s infection tally rose to 32,988,673.

The COVID-19 death toll has climbed to 4,40,533, with 308 new fatalities, according to the ministry data updated at 8 am on Sunday.