More than 80 people have been arrested in China and over 3,000 fake doses of COVID-19 vaccine confiscated as part of a campaign to combat vaccine-related crimes, state news agency Xinhua reported.
The suspects had been carrying out the ruse since at least September last year, Xinhua said on Monday, adding that all fake doses had been tracked down.
The fake vaccines were made by injecting saline into syringes, it said. The suspects may have intended to send the vaccines abroad, the government-backed Global Times newspaper reported, citing a source close to a major Chinese vaccine producer.
The police operation was carried out by police in multiple places, including Beijing, Shanghai and the eastern province of Shandong, Xinhua said.
Countries around the world have been rolling out vaccine programmes in the hope of bringing the year-long coronavirus pandemic to an end.
Scottish National Party (SNP) veteran John Swinney was elected as its new leader on Monday and is set to replace Humza Yousaf as Scotland's first minister after he emerged as the sole contender in the contest to pick a new premier.
Israel's military carried out airstrikes in Rafah on Monday, residents said, hours after Israel told Palestinians to evacuate parts of the southern Gaza city where more than a million people uprooted by the war have been sheltering.
Russia said on Monday it would practice the deployment of tactical nuclear weapons as part of a military exercise after what Moscow said were threats from France, Britain, and the United States.
President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan has issued a statement to the UAE Armed Forces expressing his thanks and appreciation as the nation celebrates the 48th anniversary of the unification of the UAE Armed Forces.