People trying to sneak out of vaccination sites with certificate, but without shot

There have been a number of incidents at Covid-19 vaccination locations of people trying to sneak out of the queue after getting a vaccination certificate, but before getting the actual shot, the GGD region of Utrecht said to AD. The health service increased security at all vaccination locations to help prevent this, a spokesperson said.

According to spokesperson Lennart van Trigt of GGD region Utrecht, these are likely people who don't want to get vaccinated, but want a certificate saying they were so that they can travel abroad or attend events. There's a story going around on social media that you can step out of the queue before getting the shot, he said. It's happened a few times in the Utrecht region and also elsewhere in the country. "But it's not like we saw people jumping out of line several times a day."

"If this is tried, it can only be done between the moment you have received your vaccine registration certificate at the last counter and end up in the injection queue," Van Trigt said. This is generally a short queue with many eyes on it, so chances are small that you'll be able to slip away unseen, he said.

The GGD region still increased security, Van Trigt said. "At all our locations. This involves stricter supervision of the queue between the issuance of the vaccination registration certificate and the actual vaccination. The hosts who manage the queues are also given extra instructions on what to do if someone steps out of the queue," he said. "If someone tries to get out of the queue, he or she must hand in the registration certificate and we will immediately cancel the registration of the vaccination."