Coronavirus crisis: Thousands 'given saline jab' in Germany

Thousands of people wanting to protect themselves against the coronavirus have possibly been injected with saline instead of a COVID-19 vaccine in the northern German district of Friesland.

More than 2000 people have already signed up for reinoculation after reports that a nurse stands accused of having used saline when vaccinating individuals against the virus, the Health Ministry of the German state of Lower Saxony announced on Wednesday.

It remains unclear if the incident was an accident or intentional.

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First booster vaccinations for those affected will already be offered from Friday, a spokesperson for the Friesland district, which is located in the state of Lower Saxony, said.

On Tuesday, police announced that the nurse had possibly injected thousands of people with saline instead of a coronavirus jab at a vaccination centre in the district - much more than originally assumed.

The district administration said 8557 people who received a jab between March 5 and April 20 might be affected.

The exact number is not yet clear, however.

A spokeswoman for Lower Saxony’s health ministry said she had no knowledge of severe COVID-19 infections having occurred as a result of saline injections.

However, such figures were not compared due to data protection reasons, among other things, she added.