A NUMPTY anti-vaxxer turned up for his jab with a false arm so he could get a vaccine passport, it emerged yesterday.
The 50-year-old man, who has not been identified, slipped the false limb made out of silicone into the sleeve of his jacket and turned up at a vaccination centre.
But sharp-eyed staff immediately spotted the ruse after touching the arm and releasing it was fake and called cops.
Health chiefs have launched an investigation.
The incident happened in a walk-in vaccination centre at Biella, near Turin, Italy and the man begged staff not to call the authorities but they were so outraged they ignored his pleas.
When he released the game he tried to escape but he was held back until police arrived and took him away for questioning.
In Italy it is compulsory to have a vaccine passport to get into bars, restaurants, cafes, shops and other public buildings.
Officials are investigating whether there is any link to a Twitter post ten days ago from a man called Giuseppe Natale, who posted a picture of a £350 Amazon silicone body suit with the message: “If I go with this will I get arrested?”
Nurse Filippa Bau, who raised the alarm, said: “Initially I thought I had embarrassed the man as I thought he had perhaps genuinely lost his arm and had simply made a mistake when he rolled up his sleeve.
“So, I asked for the other arm and he kept insisting no, the false one was fine for the injection and that’s when I thought something wasn’t quite right and I realised he was trying to get injected into a fake limb.
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“I told him I realised what he was doing and I said I was going to go and tell my boss and he just smiled and went to get up and leave. I was absolutely amazed that someone would do something like this.
“He asked us not to say anything but as this was a clear and fraudulent attempt to get a vaccine pass we had to alert the authorities.”
Local health authority chief Alberto Cirio, president of the Piemonte region around Biella, condemned the incident in a joint statement with the regional health councillor Luigi Icardi.
They said:”The case borders on the ridiculous, were it not for the fact that we are talking about a gesture of enormous gravity, unacceptable in the face of the sacrifice that the pandemic is making the whole community pay.The promptness and skill of the health worker have ruined the plans of this person who will now answer to justice.”
A police spokesman in Biella said: “A 50 year old man has been reported for suspicion of fraud and is being investigated.”
