Nearly 800 people in Uganda have been injected with fake coronavirus vaccines

The fake vaccines, sometimes mixed with water, were administered between May and June, in the midst of a wave of infections

Nearly 800 people received one or more dummy shots Vaccines against him COVID-19 On Ugandaa scam carried out by “unscrupulous” doctors and nurses, authorities announced Wednesday.

Fake vaccines, sometimes mixed with water, were administered between May and June, amid a wave of coronavirus infections in the country, with an average of 1,700 new cases per day.

Warren Namara, the presidential health services supervisor, said the scammers were targeting people willing to pay for their vaccines, when there was a shortage of doses in Uganda.

“The unscrupulous, with the intent of making money, deceived the public with fake COVID-19 vaccines,” Namara told AFP.

He explained that “two health workers were arrested and the doctor is on the run.”

The official said that analyzes showed that the bottles did not contain any dangerous product and that “some of them only contained water.”

The scammers paid the equivalent of $25 and $120 per injection.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, Uganda has recorded 91,162 cases and 2,425 deaths from the coronavirus, according to the authorities’ latest tally on Wednesday.