BERLIN (AFP) – A 60-year-old man is alleged to have vaccinated himself against COVID-19 dozens of times in Germany in order to sell fake vaccination cards with real vaccine kit numbers to people who do not want to get the vaccine themselves.
The man from the eastern German city of Magdeburg, whose name has not been released in keeping with German privacy rules, is said to have received up to 90 shots against COVID-19 at vaccination centers in the eastern state of Saxony for months until criminal police were arrested. German news agency (dpa) reported on Sunday that earlier this month.
The German news agency (dpa) reported that the suspect has not been arrested, but is under investigation for his unauthorized issuance of vaccination cards and forging documents.
He was arrested at the vaccination center in Ellenburg, Saxony when he showed up for the second day in a row to get a COVID-19 shot. The police confiscated several blank vaccination cards from him and initiated criminal proceedings.
It wasn’t immediately clear what effect the nearly 90 shots of the COVID-19 vaccines, which were from different brands, affected the man’s personal health.
German police have carried out several raids regarding forgery of vaccination passports in recent months. Many COVID-19 deniers refuse to get vaccinated in Germany, but at the same time they want to get the coveted COVID-19 passports that make access to public life and many places like restaurants, theaters, swimming pools or workplaces much easier.
Germany has seen high numbers of infections for weeks, but many measures to control the epidemic expired on Friday. The wearing of masks is no longer mandatory in grocery stores and most theaters but is still mandatory on public transportation.
In most schools across the country, students also no longer have to wear masks, prompting teacher associations to warn of potential conflicts in the classroom.
“There is a danger now, on the one hand, that children who wear masks will be harassed by their classmates as being cowards and overprotective, or on the other hand, they will put pressure on those who wear masks,” Heinz-Peter Medinger, president of the German Teachers’ Union at A statement to the German News Agency (dpa). He called for a voluntary commitment by teachers and students to continue wearing masks in the classroom and on the school grounds, at least until the country goes into a two-week Easter holiday.
Health experts say the latest wave of infections in Germany – triggered by the BA.2 omicron subfactor – may have reached its peak.
On Sunday, the country’s disease control agency reported 74,053 new cases of COVID-19, less than a week ago, when the Robert Koch Institute recorded 11,224 daily infections. However, the number of reported infections is usually lower on the weekends.
Overall, Germany has recorded 130,029 deaths due to COVID-19.
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