Authorities in Italy are investigating whether the Italian mafia diverts the country’s supply of coronavirus vaccines from those who need them most and give them to their friends and family, according to a report.
Deaths among the elderly have increased in the country, which has struggled in the deployment of vaccines, and the prime minister has blamed the rise of younger people who jumped the line.
By the end of January, about seven out of ten people receiving the vaccine in Italy were under the age of 60, and according to Politico, there are now at least 1,000 suspected lineouts being investigated across the country.
ITALY CORONAVIRUS: HEALTH WORKERS NEED TO BE INTENTED OR YEAR SUSPENSION
“With what conscience does someone jump into the queue, knowing that it leaves another person vulnerable, who is over 65 years old or fragile, and who has a concrete life risk?” Premier Mario Draghi said at a news conference.
An estimated 8,000 lives could have been saved in Italy if more elderly people could get the vaccine, an international think tank found, according to Politico.
A health worker gives a dose of Pfizer vaccine to a woman at San Giovanni Addolorata Hospital, Rome, on Saturday, April 10, 2021. (Associated Press)
The mafia often exercises control over health care in the country, especially in the south, Politico reported, where the number of people calling themselves health workers has increased exponentially because the group is one of the first to be vaccinated, causing suspicion.
Several regions in the south allegedly gave as many shots to well-connected people as judges, politicians and journalists as people over 80.
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“People are being vaccinated who are outside any priority category specified by the government, especially in some regions where there is a high density of mafia, and we suspect that the mafia is driving the vaccinations,” said Mario Giarrusso, a member of the country’s mafia commission, told Politico.