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Italian police investigating fake COVID vaccines

Published:Friday | February 19, 2021 | 2:05 PM
For weeks, Veneto’s regional governor, Luca Zaia, reported being contacted by unnamed intermediaries offering to sell him shots, including Russian and Chinese jabs, after he publicly voiced frustration over shortages of deliveries in Italy and said he wanted to buy his own vaccines outside the national scheme.

ROME — Italian police investigating fake COVID-19 drugs and vaccines have interviewed a Veneto regional official who reported receiving offers for 27 million doses of Pfizer outside the European Union contracting system.

For weeks, Veneto’s regional governor, Luca Zaia, reported being contacted by unnamed intermediaries offering to sell him shots, including Russian and Chinese jabs, after he publicly voiced frustration over shortages of deliveries in Italy and said he wanted to buy his own vaccines outside the national scheme.

On Friday, Zaia said his health care chief dealing with the offers, Dr Luciano Flor, met with the carabinieri’s health care squad.

The squad confirmed it was searching Veneto regional offices “to look into the presumed providers of vaccines outside agreements with central authorities.”

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