Chinese authorities recently announced a crackdown on criminal rings involved in making fake COVID-19 vaccines, and revealed that some of the products were distributed to other countries. Arrested suspects were accused of gaining illicit profits totaling around 18 million yuan (about $2.78 million). As of Feb. 10, twenty-one vaccine-related cases were being investigated across the country, with 70 suspects arrested, according to a Feb. 15 report by Chinese state media Xinhua. In the early stages of China’s vaccine rollout, the report said, suspects made huge profits through manufacturing fake vaccines, selling and reselling them at high prices, and inoculating groups without authorization. Some of the Chinese-made fake vaccines were reportedly transported from Tianjin to Shenzhen, and then smuggled to other countries via Hong Kong. Xinhua did not specify which countries. The criminal rings allegedly bought prefilled syringes or packaged saline solution or mineral water (when saline solution was out of …