- After attempting to receive a COVID-19 vaccine in a fake arm made of silicone, a dentist in the northern Italian city of Biella is facing possible criminal charges
- Nurse Filippa Bua said she could immediately tell that something was not right when the dentist presented the fake arm for his vaccine shot last week
- Bua noted that the man acknowledged he did not want to get vaccinated but wanted a “super” health pass, which will be required to enter restaurants, cinemas, theaters and other venues
BIELLA, Italy: After attempting to receive a COVID-19 vaccine in a fake arm made of silicone, a dentist in the northern Italian city of Biella is facing possible criminal charges.
Nurse Filippa Bua said she could immediately tell that something was not right when the dentist presented the fake arm for his vaccine shot last week.
“When I uncovered the arm, I felt skin that was cold and gummy, and the color was too light,” she told Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, noting she initially thought the 57-year-old man was an amputee and had mistakenly offered the wrong arm. But when she lifted his shirt and saw a silicone arm.
“I understood immediately that the man was trying to avoid the vaccination by using a silicone prosthetic, into which he hoped that I would inject the drug, unaware,” she added.
Bua noted that the man, who had already been suspended from work because of his refusal to be vaccinated, which is required for medical personnel in Italy, acknowledged he did not want to get vaccinated but wanted a “super” health pass, which will be required to enter restaurants, cinemas, theaters and other venues.
The nurse said the man was courteous and left the vaccination center after the failed attempt.
Bua and other staff at the vaccination site turned paperwork over to superiors to report the case, which has been transferred to prosecutors.
While Italy’s vaccination rate for eligible people is relatively high at 85 percent, those in the 30 to 59 age range have proven the most skeptical, with nearly 3.5 million still not having received their first shot.
