Attorney General sues over $400-a-dose dealer

OLYMPIA — A fake coronavirus vaccine manufacturer that was selling his wares on Facebook and charging $400 per dose is being forced to pay back his victims and is permanently barred from marketing vaccines without testing and evidence.

Redmond-area resident Johnny T. Stine and his company, North Coast Biologics, marketed a Covid-19 vaccine via Stine’s Facebook profile around the time the Wuhan coronavirus began to peak in the country and Seattle. In social media posts, Stine claimed to have developed a “vaccine” in “half a day” that made him immune after he tested it on himself.

North Coast Biologics is a self-described “antibody discovery company” based in King County and is founded and directed by Stine. In January 2012, the company failed to file for a business license renewal and was administratively dissolved by the state. However, Stine continues to operate North Coast Biologics and used the company’s Facebook page to promote his products.

In one Facebook post, Stine claimed his vaccine made him immune to COVID-19 and he had sent his product to China for testing. He later posted he would not wait for any health agencies to create or approve a vaccine and noted he would not “wait several months for something so trivial it took me half a day to design????!” He also noted “coronaviruses are easy as [expletive] to make a vaccine against.”

Starting in early March and through April 2020, Stine sold and administered the vaccine to about 30 individuals, mostly Washingtonians, for $400 each.

In mid-April, Stine also posted on the Facebook page of the Friday Harbor mayor and offered to vaccinate him. Stine said in the posts he would also take care of the San Juan Island town’s residents, who then expressed concern about the legitimacy of the vaccine. He subsequently denigrated the residents of the town and wrote they did not understand science.

“Mr. Stine marketed a fake vaccine when Washingtonians felt particularly vulnerable,” Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson said. “That’s not only morally wrong—it’s illegal. This resolution ensures Mr. Stine refunds the individuals he swindled. He will pay an even steeper cost if he ever tries it again.”

Stine will pay $8,500 to the state for the cost of bringing the case, with another $30,000 suspended based on his compliance with the agreement. The attorney general’s office will reach out to individuals who bought the “vaccine” and facilitate refunds. Refunds could total up to $12,000 if all 30 victims can be reached.

Although numerous vaccines are currently in early stages of clinical trials, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has not approved any vaccine for use in the prevention of the new coronavirus.

In April, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and an adviser to the president on the pandemic response, suggested that having an approved vaccine may be “doable” by January 2021 “if things fall in the right place.”