The man is reported to have visited several different immunization clinics and was paid by others to get the doses.
New Zealand health authorities are investigating claims that a man received up to 10 COVID-19 vaccination doses in one day on behalf of other people, in the latest effort by members of the public to skirt tough restrictions on the unvaccinated. The Ministry of Health said it was taking the matter seriously. “We are very concerned about this situation and are working with the appropriate agencies,” its Covid-19 vaccination and immunisation spokesperson, Astrid Koornneef, said.
Stuff reports that the man is believed to have visited several immunization centres and was paid to get the doses. In New Zealand, vaccines can either be booked through a website, via a doctor, or people can turn up to walk-in centres. To be administered a vaccine, a person must provide the health care worker with their name, date of birth, and physical address, but no further identification is required.
“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 identify 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.”
The ministry urged anyone who has had more vaccine doses than recommended to seek clinical advice.
Vaccinologist Helen Petousis-Harris, from the University of Auckland, said there was no specific data on using the vaccine in this way, but the man was not likely to come to serious harm. “We know that higher doses result in more general vaccine reactions like fever and headaches and pains, so you might anticipate that he would feel pretty grotty the next day.”
This case was not an isolated one, Petousis-Harris said, adding that she had heard of others being paid to receive the vaccine on someone else’s behalf. People are not required to show photo identification when getting the vaccine, in order to make the process as accessible as possible, but that makes the system vulnerable to abuse by “a small minority of people,” she said.
“I think it is a very selfish act on the behalf of the buyer, and exploiting, perhaps, somebody who needed to get some money and is willing to take those risks, which is not very community minded.”
New Zealand is expected to hit its 90% double vaccinated goal for the eligible population (those aged 12 and older) before Christmas. But a small and vocal cohort of people are reluctant to be immunised.
The country’s new traffic light system, announced by prime minister Jacinda Ardern in late November, ends lockdowns in favour of restrictions on the unvaccinated. The red, orange, and green levels depend on vaccination rates and the level of strain on the health system, but even at red – the strictest level – businesses are fully open to the vaccinated, with some restrictions on gathering size.
Last week, Newshub filmed a licensed doctor handing out medical certificates as vaccine exemption certificates at her clinic and telling her patients she was not vaccinated. Proper medical exemptions can only be granted through the Ministry of Health, and medical professionals are required to be immunised. The police have confirmed they are investigating the incident.