Authorities in northern Germany have appealed to thousands of people to get another shot of a COVID-19 vaccine after a police investigation found that a Red Cross nurse may have injected them with a saline solution, Reuters reported.
According to the report, the nurse is suspected of injecting salt solution into people's arms instead of genuine doses at a vaccination center in Friesland. This reportedly occurred in the early spring.
Around 8,600 residents may have been affected.
The motive of the nurse, who has not been named, was not clear but she had aired skeptical views about vaccines in social media posts, police investigators said.
It was not immediately clear whether the suspect had been arrested or charged in the case.
While saline solution is harmless, most people who got vaccinated in Germany in March and April, when the suspected switch took place, are elderly people who are at high risk of catching COVID-19.