Italian anti-vaxxer tried to use fake arm to dodge Covid jab
3 December 2021, 19:07 | Updated: 7 June 2023, 08:56
An Italian man tried to dodge a Covid jab by using a fake arm, it has emerged.
He was trying to get his hands on a Covid vaccination certificate but didn't want to actually have the jab, according to Italian publication La Repubblica.
The man, aged in his 50s, arrived with a specially made silicone mould covering his real arm, hoping medics giving the jab wouldn't notice.
But it was spotted by the nurse administering the jab, who went on to alert the police. She told local media her suspicions were aroused by the "rubbery and cold" texture of the arm, saying the pigment was "too light".
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He was reported to the police for fraud.
Local police are now investigating the incident in Biella, north-west Italy.
The head of the Piedmont regional government, Albert Cirio, said in a statement on Facebook: "The case borders on the ridiculous, if it were not for the fact we are talking about a gesture of enormous gravity."
He said the man's actions were "unacceptable faced with the sacrifice that our entire community has paid during the pandemic, in terms of human lives, the social and economic cost".
La Repubblica reported man was a health worker who was suspended from his job because he hadn't been vaccinated. The jab is mandatory for all health workers in Italy.
