A 33-year-old man was caught in Fosses-la-Ville, near Namur, attempting to receive his ninth coronavirus vaccine.
He was being paid €100 to €150 by antivaxers who sent him to vaccination centres with their identity cards in order to get a Covid Safe Ticket (CST) without being vaccinated themselves.
Alert staff at several vaccination centres in Charleroi and Namur in Wallonia were able to uncover the scheme, according to De Standaard.
The man was recognised when he went to get two vaccinations within a short time in Charleroi, and not much later he presented himself again using the identity card of an antivaxer.
Police officers disguised as stewards were waiting to make the arrest.
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The Namur public prosecutor's office has ordered an investigation to find out how often and in whose place he received the vaccine.
Several of his “clients” who received the CST wrongfully have already been identified, according to Sudpresse. The public prosecutor's office said they could face up to 5 years in prison and a fine of up to €800,000 for forgery and fraud by means of information technology.
“It is unlikely that the man's health is at risk from too many vaccinations,” said virologist Steven van Gucht.
“But he is also not necessarily better protected against the virus. You can't stimulate your immune system endlessly.”
Virologist Marc Van Ranst added that “of course, we didn't give anyone more injections than necessary to see how that person would react. How dangerous what this person did is, we can't estimate, although the chance of complications seems rather small.”
