The Minister of Health, Olivier Véran, visits a Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine distribution site in Chanteloup-en-Brie -

Geoffroy Van der Hasselt / AP / SIPA

  • The European Union on Monday gave the green light to the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine, paving the way for the post-Christmas launch of vaccinations in the 27 member states.

    The first doses could be delivered on December 26.

  • The head of Interpol, Jürgen Stock, fears a "dramatic" increase in crime and expects "thefts, break-ins of warehouses and attacks during the transport of vaccines".

  • In France, the police have taken measures to secure the routes taken by the convoys as well as the storage and distribution sites.

Producing a vaccine in record time is one thing.

Securing the delivery of 200 million doses to the four corners of Europe is another.

The European Medicines Agency and the European Commission authorized, on Monday, the distribution in the Union of Pfizer-BioNTech's anti-Covid vaccine, from December 26.

For the manufacturer of this "liquid gold" which arouses the greed of criminal organizations and for States, the challenge is immense.

Jürgen Stock, the boss of Interpol, fears in fact a "dramatic" increase in crime and expects "thefts, break-ins of warehouses and attacks during the transport of vaccines".

Delinquency, cyber attacks, activists' actions ...

“The vaccination campaign is a windfall for crime.

We saw it during the first containment, especially with the masks.

But we were involved upstream in the work that was carried out, under the authority of the prefectures, concerning the delivery and securing of vaccines, ”explains

Comptroller General Michel Lavaud, spokesperson for the national police

, to

20 Minutes

.

Several risks have been identified by the Ministry of the Interior, ranging from acts of delinquency or malice to cyber attacks, including the actions of anti-vaccine activists.

Measures will be taken both by manufacturers and by law enforcement to secure the convoys transporting the precious doses and the places where they will be stored.

Securing routes

Trucks will leave the plant in Puurs, Belgium, where Pfizer's vaccine is manufactured, and deliver the doses to around 100 storage locations in France.

The company told

20 Minutes

that it will use "thermal sensors equipped with GPS in each thermal container, whose exact location and storage temperature will be controlled remotely, to be able to detect any anomaly in the transport chain".

The police, for their part, will secure the routes taken by the convoys, either "visibly to deter" or discreetly "to identify suspicious rides, anticipate and provide information", continues Michel Lavaud.

Law enforcement will also ensure the safety of vaccine storage or distribution locations.

“In each department, the police directors will ask their services to carry out investigations to identify the points of vulnerability of the sites concerned.

They can be corrected immediately, or taken into account in the context of our missions, ”adds the spokesperson for the police.

"Depending on the operational analysis of the situation", drones could be used "under the control of administrative and judicial authorities," he said.

Finally, the police will ensure that "field patrols intervene as quickly as possible on the sites affected by the vaccination campaign" if the alert should be given.

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Coronavirus: Interpol expects "dramatic" increase in crime over vaccine delivery

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