Watching as Russia’s drive to vaccinate its citizens against coronavirus stumbled earlier this year, Sergei had a hunch that authorities would eventually make inoculations mandatory. But the 30-something in the southern Krasnodar region had no plans of getting a jab.
So he found a dealer online hawking fake vaccine certificates, sent his personal details over encrypted messenger Telegram and transferred 15,000 rubles ($200/£150).
Three weeks later, Sergei logged on to Russia’s government services portal to find a certificate showing he had received both doses of the country’s homegrown Sputnik V vaccine – without ever having been jabbed.
Many Russians are wary of the vaccine, with about 60% saying they do not plan to be inoculated, according to independent polling.
Sergei said he believed the jab had side effects, and fears the vaccine is experimental. “I don’t want to die because of what the government wants,” Sergei said in an exchange on Telegram,…