A man was caught red-handed in his attempts to fool a health worker into injecting him in a fake arm with the Covid vaccine.
The surreal episode unfolded in Biella, a town in the north Italy near Turin, where the unidentified man, 50, asked staff to turn a blind eye after noticing the silicone arm.
The head of the region’s authority, Alberto Cirio, slammed the ruse as “ridiculous” and vowed he will now “answer to justice.”
“Even though the silicone was very similar to real skin, its colour and feel raised the health worker’s suspicions,” he said in a statement.
“The worker then asked the person to show his full arm. Once discovered, the subject tried to convince the health worker to turn a blind eye.
“He was instead reported to the Carabinieri (police force) and the ASL (local health unit) will report the case too.”