Around 8,600 residents in Northern Germany were asked to get revaccinated after authorities launched an investigation into a nurse who allegedly administered saline water instead of COVID-19 vaccines, BBC reported Thursday.
Initially only six people — who had received their jabs at a vaccination center in Friesland in April — were believed to have been injected with the harmless saline solution, according to BBC.
The 40-year-old woman admitted at the time to swapping the substances to cover up the fact that she had a broken vial with COVID-19 vaccine. However, a further investigation, including antibody testing, led the authorities to ask 8,557 people to get a genuine vaccine, 3600 of whom have already made an appointment, BBC reported.
Almost 9,000 people in Germany are set to be revaccinated after possibly receiving fake jabs.
A nurse allegedly replaced #COVID19 vaccines with saline solution. She admitted to tampering with 1 vial, but antibody testing led officials to believe thousands more could be affected. pic.twitter.com/Ut7wXv3Rqs
— AJ+ (@ajplus) August 11, 2021
The nurse’s actions are said to have affected mostly elderly people who are at an increased risk of contracting the disease, according to Reuters. (RELATED: Thousands Injected With Salt Water Instead Of COVID Vaccines In India)
Though the woman’s motives remain unclear at the time, she had previously expressed anti-vaccination views online, police said, according to Reuters.
The case has been handed to a special unit investigating politically motivated crimes, Reuters reported.