The center was giving out shots of an unknown substance for $15 each and telling people they would "become immune to COVID-19 after three doses," city security chief César Díaz said in a statement. Authorities interviewed witnesses and people who had visited the center, Díaz added, and believe it had given up to 70,000 doses of the shot.

In interviews with local media during the police operation, the center's owner claimed that it was not giving out vaccines, but "vitamins and serums" to boost patients immunity, and other treatments to cure the disease. "I have treated around 20,000 coronavirus patients here," she told Ecuadoran newspaper El Comercio.

Ecuador became one of Latin America's early pandemic hotspots in spring 2020. To date, it has reported 14,668 deaths from COVID-19 and 242,146 cases of the virus.