An Italian man is facing fraud charges after he was caught trying to get the COVID-19 vaccine while wearing a fake arm, an act that has been branded as bordering on "ridiculous" by local officials.
The man, reportedly in his 50s, wanted to get obtain a "green pass," or a COVID-19 certificate, without being vaccinated against COVID-19. He wore a silicone prosthetic to his vaccine appointment in Biella, a town near Turin in the northern Piedmont region in Italy.
"Green passes" were first introduced in the country in August, and were made mandatory for the workplace in October. The certificates are obtained by either naturally recovering from the virus within the past six months, or being fully vaccinated against COVID-19. The passes are also required in other parts of Europe as part of measures aimed at curbing transmission of the virus.
The man turned up to his local COVID-19 vaccine hub, signed a consent form in the presence of a doctor, and lifted up his shirt sleeve, ready to receive his jab.
However, the health care worker in charge of administering his vaccine suspected something was wrong, and asked the man to remove his shirt after taking a closer look at the silicone prosthetic.
Filippa Bua told La Repubblica she "felt offended as a professional."
"The color of the arm made me suspicious and so I asked the man to uncover the rest of his left arm. It was well made but it wasn't the same color."
The man reportedly said to her after he removed his shirt: "Would you have imagined that I'd have such a physique?"
"At first I thought I made a mistake, that it was a patient with an artificial arm," the health care worker told La Stampa, saying that the man's veins weren't visible.
In a joint statement, Alberto Cirio, the president of Piedmont, and Luigi Icardi, the region's health councillor, said that the man will "now have to respond to the judiciary."
"The promptness and skill of the health worker ruined the plans of this person," the pair said.
"The case borders on the ridiculous, if it were not for the fact we are talking about a gesture of enormous gravity," the officials added.
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," they said.
The incident comes as many European countries roll out harsher COVID restrictions amid a spike in infections. The WHO said last month that the EU has once again become the epicenter of the pandemic, noting that recent coronavirus cases in the region now make up nearly three-fifths of infections worldwide.
Starting December 6, Italians will need their green passes to dine indoors and enter venues including gyms, cinemas, stadiums, and nightclubs.
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