The recent news about a group of criminals that produced and sold fake vaccines to hospitals in Jakarta and other parts of Indonesia has people all over the country outraged. And, for very good reason – their immoral actions and fake vaccines have likely endangered the lives of thousands of Indonesian children. Many people want the suspects to face the harshest punishment possible, including top government officials.
“If they ruin our young generation, then in my opinion they deserve (to be put to death),” Health Minister Nila F Moeloek said today, as quoted by Kompas.
Nila said that all of the children who were given the fake vaccines now have no immunity to the diseases they were supposed to be protected. She said the government would hold revaccination check for children who might have been affected by the scams and give real vaccinations to those found to have received the fakes, free of charge.
The police say they currently have 15 suspects who they believe were involved in the production and distribution of the fake vaccines and have evidence to believe that the fakes were distributed to Semarang, Yogyakarta, and Medan, on top of unspecified locations in the provinces of Banten, West Java, and Jakarta.
Media outlets have reported that at least some of the suspects purchased large homes, expensive cars and other luxury goods, presumably with the money from their fake vaccine sales.
