Mexican tricksters use elderly disguise to get COVID-19 vaccine

Elderly people wait after receiving doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine against COVID-19 at a vaccination center set up at the University Olympic Stadium in Coyoacan neighborhood, in Mexico City on March 30, 2021. Photo by CLAUDIO CRUZ / AFP

MEXICO CITY — Two Mexican men in their 30s managed to get the coronavirus vaccine in the capital by disguising themselves as senior citizens, but were later caught, the authorities said Wednesday.

With their hair and eyebrows colored white, the men visited a vaccination center for over 60s wearing masks and plastic face shields, the city mayor’s office said.

Both presented false identity documents and received the vaccine, but their plan fell apart when they had to speak with a worker at the center afterward.

“A colleague realized the voice was not that (of an old man), and that was when she called the authorities,” Mexico City official Cristina Cruz was quoted by the UNOTV news site as saying.

The imposters face charges of identity theft, she said.

The country of 126 million, whose official Covid-19 death toll of 205,000 is the world’s third highest, has doled out nearly 10 million vaccine doses to medical workers and the elderly.