The Lower Saxony State Health Office and local authorities are calling for the re-vaccination of thousands of individuals who thought they were administered the COVID-19 vaccine at the Roffhausen Immunization Center in northwest Germany between April 20 and May 3.
"Today I had a sad duty to inform around 8,600 potentially affected people that it is not possible to rule out that there are also people among you who could have received saline ... instead of their vaccination at their vaccination date," wrote Friesland District Councillor Sven Ambrosy on Facebook.
"I'm totally shocked by the incident. The district of Friesland will do everything possible to ensure that the affected people receive their vaccination protection as soon as possible."
Authorities detailed that an employee at the immunization center recognized something was awry when they saw a nurse fill up six syringes. At the time, the suspect claimed she was attempting to correct a mishap with a vial.
According to investigator Beer, authorities "found a Facebook post written by the accused, who posted extensively" about her anti-vaccine views.
"We then found three or four of her WhatsApp chats from April 21, right before the act, so we suspect that she did it," he said, as reported by Euronews.
Claudia Shroeder, a member of the crisis intervention team, explained that there is "no danger whatsoever" associated with repeated vaccinations, so they are encouraging those contacted to "get vaccinated again just to be on the safe side."
Matthias Pulz, president of the Lower Saxony State Health Office, also issued a similar statement, arguing that this "is the only way to ensure complete vaccination protection" — "even if persons have already been correctly vaccinated twice."
The matter is being probed by a German police unit on politically motivated crimes.