A nurse prepares a dose of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine to be injected at the Andras Josa Teaching Hospital in Nyiregyhaza, Hungary, Jan. 24, 2021. (Attila Balazs/MTI via AP)
New Zealand Officials Probe Allegations Man Received 10 COVID-19 Vaccine Doses in 1 Day
A man who allegedly received as many as 10 COVID-19 vaccine shots in one day on behalf of other people is now being investigated, authorities in New Zealand say.
Astrid Koornneef, a manager of the country’s COVID-19 vaccine and immunization program, confirmed that the New Zealand Ministry of Health is aware of the alleged incident. An investigation is underway, she said.
“We are very concerned about this situation and are working with the appropriate agencies,” she told the New Zealand Herald. The ministry didn’t elaborate on where the alleged incident occurred, and officials provided no other details.
The ministry recommended that anyone who has received more vaccine doses than recommended should seek clinical advice.
“Medical practitioners operate in a high-trust environment and rely on people to act in good faith to share information accurately to assist with their treatment,” Koornneef said.
The New Zealand news website Stuff.co.nz reported that the unnamed man visited several vaccination sites and was paid to receive the shots on behalf of other individuals, pretending to be them.
“To assume another person’s identity and receive a medical treatment is dangerous. This puts at risk the person who receives a vaccination under an assumed identity and the person whose health record will show they have been vaccinated when they have not,” Koornneef said. “This could affect how their health is managed in the future.”
About 89 percent of New Zealand residents are fully vaccinated, according to data provided by the Ministry of Health. In October, New Zealand dropped its “zero COVID” strategy, a policy that is still being employed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in China.
At the time, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern acknowledged that her country can’t eliminate COVID-19, which is caused by the CCP virus.
“For this outbreak, it’s clear that long periods of heavy restrictions have not got us to zero cases,” Ardern acknowledged in October. “But that is okay. Elimination was important because we didn’t have vaccines. Now we do. So we can begin to change the way we do things.”
The Ministry of Health didn’t respond to a request by The Epoch Times for additional comment by press time.
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