(In Britain, the vaccination is only available through the National Health Service.) In Europe, a top army general in Spain and local mayors in Austria were accused of having jumped the queue for shots.Īnd the founder of a luxury travel company in London made waves last month by offering to fly members who were 65 or older to the United Arab Emirates to receive privately obtained vaccines.
Peru’s health and foreign ministers quit and its former president was placed under criminal investigation after reports of hundreds of Peruvian officials and others receiving vaccine doses outside of clinical trials and before the national immunization program began.Īrgentina’s health minister also stepped down after reports that at least 10 people had been able to use connections to jump the queue for vaccines, including a journalist who said he had received an early shot after approaching the minister for help. Others have paid heavier prices for queue-jumping. Officials in the state had already moved to tighten residency rules for jabs in an effort to clamp down on an influx of “vaccine tourists” from New York to India.
They were issued with trespass warnings but no further action was taken. They had apparently already previously successfully managed to get their first jabs. The women – who turned out to be aged in their 30s and 40s and had “dressed up as grannies” in an effort to get vaccines reserved for vulnerable elderly people – are among a growing number of people trying to cheat or game the system to get early access to scarce shots. In Florida, health officials said two fake grannies were caught at a vaccine distribution hub in Orlando and had given false dates of birth. The princesses, who are aged in their 50s, are not yet entitled to vaccines under Spain’s rollout. Spanish princesses Elena and Christina – both sisters to King Felipe VI – have faced anger after it emerged they obtained jabs in Abu Dhabi last month. Vaccine cheats appear to the relatively rare as nations prioritise shots for those most in need, but the number of known cases are steadily growing. WHERE AND HOW IS VACCINE LINE-JUMPING HAPPENING? How widespread is vaccine line-jumping and what can be done to deter similar behaviour in the future?
The controversy has echoed favouritism by elites in other countries as the world rushes to inoculate against the coronavirus.īut fines and high-profile dismissals have not deterred some of the world's most privileged from gaming the system: securing, often through nefarious means, coveted vaccines seen as golden tickets to health and normality. Local media and politicians said that some lawmakers got shots in parliament - despite not necessarily being in priority groups. In March, a row over Lebanese lawmakers jumping the queue for COVID-19 vaccinations erupted with the World Bank threatening to pull its funding for the inoculation drive. New infections have spiked ahead of the Olympics, which are set to start in July. The social media outrage comes as Japan's inoculations are lagging well behind other major economies. LONDON, April 8 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Japan's government moved to cool a social media furore on Thursday saying it was currently not looking to prioritise COVID-19 vaccines for Olympic athletes, dismissing a media report that said it was weighing the option. From Spain to Florida, the healthy and wealthy are jumping the queue to get a COVID-19 vaccine amid chaotic rollouts and supply shortages
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