Four people have been arrested in Indonesia for allegedly stealing Covid-19 vaccines marked for prisoners and selling them to the public, authorities said on May 25.
MEDAN, INDONESIA (AFP) - Four people have been arrested in Indonesia for allegedly stealing Covid-19 vaccines marked for prisoners and selling them to the public, the authorities said on Tuesday (May 25).
The suspects took more than 1,000 doses made by China s Sinovac from the prisoners quota, offering them to buyers in the capital Jakarta and in North Sumatra s Medan city for about 250,000 rupiah (S$23) each.
The four arrested included a doctor at a prison in Medan and a local health official, said the police. They could face a life sentence if convicted under Indonesia s anti-corruption law. One of the suspects brought the vaccines to Jakarta where we also uncovered some locations providing the service, North Sumatra police spokesman Hadi Wahyudi told AFP on Tuesday.
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Indonesia arrests 4 for stealing COVID-19 vaccines meant for prisoners
Indonesian authorities have arrested four people for allegedly stealing coronavirus vaccine doses meant for prisoners and then selling them to the public AFP/CHAIDEER MAHYUDDIN
25 May 2021 05:07PM Share this content
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MEDAN, Indonesia: Four people have been arrested in Indonesia for allegedly stealing COVID-19 vaccines marked for prisoners and selling them to the public, authorities said on Tuesday (May 25).
The suspects took more than 1,000 doses made by China s Sinovac from the prisoners quota, offering them to buyers in the capital Jakarta and in North Sumatra s Medan city for around 250,000 rupiah (US$17) each.
Follow RT on Indonesian authorities have arrested four people charged with stealing Covid-19 vaccines that had been marked for prisoners. The shots were then being sold to buyers in Jakarta and Medan for $17.
Authorities said on Tuesday that the suspects, who included a prison doctor and a local health official, took more than 1,000 doses of the Chinese-made Sinovac jab from the prisoners’ quota to sell them on the black market.
Police said the suspects brought the shots to the capital Jakarta and North Sumatra’s Medan and sold them to buyers for around 250,000 rupiah ($17) each.
Indonesia has only administered 25 million jabs to its 270 million-strong population, meaning many are still waiting for their lifesaving shots. Supplies have been prioritized for frontline health workers, high-risk groups and inmates in the country’s overcrowded prisons.
Coronavirus toll at 10:00 (GMT) Tuesday
Paris
– The novel coronavirus has killed at least 3 475 079 people since the outbreak
emerged in China in December 2019, according to a tally from official sources
compiled by AFP at 10:00 (GMT) on Tuesday.
At
least 167 197 690 cases of coronavirus have been registered.
The
vast majority have recovered, though some have continued to experience symptoms
weeks or even months later.
The
figures are based on daily reports provided by health authorities in each
country.
They
exclude revisions made by other statistical organisations, which show that the
number of deaths is much higher.
The
World Health Organisation estimates that the pandemic s overall toll could be