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BERLIN — Coronavirus vaccine line jumping in the United States has raised eyebrows and tested friendships. British Home Secretary Priti Patel has called people who skip ahead in the line "morally reprehensible." But Germany has taken prioritization rules to another level, investigating and threatening to prosecute people who don't wait their turn.
In various German cities, prosecutors have probed politicians, police officers and others. A mayor accused of deliberately circumventing the official vaccine priority list was suspended last week after having his office searched.
German coalition government lawmakers even proposed fines of up to $30,000. Although those have not been enacted, line jumpers can be prosecuted under existing laws — for fraud, embezzlement or accepting undue advantage.