Again and again there are headlines about cases of fraud in the course of the corona pandemic.
In India, thousands were apparently vaccinated with salt water.
Mumbai - India has been hit hard by the corona pandemic. Over 400,000 people have died in connection with Covid-19. That comes from data from Johns Hopkins University. Worldwide, the country ranks third in South Asia among the countries most severely affected by the pandemic, after the USA * and Brazil. Against this background, the latest allegation in the course of the country's expanding vaccination campaign is incomprehensible. Thousands of Indians are said to have been given salt water instead of a Corona * vaccine. This is reported by the renowned
New York Times
.
It is not the first time vaccine fraud reports have been made public.
An unprecedented vaccination campaign was organized worldwide under time pressure - and with it the illegal trade in counterfeit products was opened.
Interpol had already warned in advance of crime in connection with the coveted vaccines.
They are profiteers from suffering.
In March, the agency seized thousands of counterfeit cans in South Africa.
This was reported by
Business Insider
, among others
.
Instead of the life-saving agent, there was ineffective salt water in the vessels.
Corona in India: Police are investigating fake vaccines - salt water instead of AstraZeneca?
Jürgen Stock, General Secretary of the international police organization, warned against falling for forgeries offered on the Internet. The US portal quoted the flood of fake vaccines as "only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to crime related to Covid-19 vaccines". With people's fear of contracting the coronavirus - and the liquid hope of the vaccine - business appears to be thriving. As the
New York Times
report
further underlines.
It said the Indian police are currently investigating allegations that thousands of people in Mumbai have been treated with a counterfeit vaccine.
14 people are said to have been arrested.
They are suspected to have been involved in a ring that is said to have vaccinated dozens of people in private vaccination centers with the ineffective liquid in the past two months.
Medical staff, among other things, is said to have demanded between ten and 17 US dollars per dose from the ignorant patient.
Authorities report $ 20,000 they are alleged to have confiscated.
India is struggling with fake corona vaccines - authenticity of the vaccine is questionable "
"Those arrested are charged with criminal conspiracy, fraud and forgery," the
New York Times
quoted
Vishal Thakur, a police officer in Mumbai. More than 2,600 people are said to be affected who were supposedly vaccinated with the vaccine from AstraZeneca *. Suspicions arose when administrative anomalies increased, for example that organizations with which the private vaccination centers said they were working did not match the names on the vaccination certificate issued.
An alleged victim of fraud spoke up on Twitter.
"There are doubts whether we actually received Covishield (AstraZeneca) or whether it was just glucose or expired / waste vaccines," writes the user.
She also reports of dubious vaccination certificates.
And tweeted: "This made the authenticity of the vaccine questionable." As the
New York Times
writes, the court hearing the case in Mumbai was appalled.
It is "really shocking that incidents of counterfeit vaccinations are increasing".
According to the Oxford University's Our World in Data project, over 340 million vaccine doses are said to have been administered in India to date.
Only five percent of the population are fully vaccinated.
(aka) * Merkur.de is an offer from IPPEN.MEDIA.
