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Introduction
On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) publicly announced the outbreak of a dangerous virus, SARS-CoV-2, more commonly known as COVID-19. Life since COVID-19 has been plagued by a lack of normalcy and a sense of insecurity across the world, with vaccine-related corruption worsening the already-high levels of stress and fear in people. As the number of infected and dying individuals continued to rise throughout 2020, so did the urgency of creating a vaccine. An increased urgency creates large spaces where systems can be abused. As COVID-19 vaccines gain approval throughout the world, their impact remains unprecedented. Equally as important, vaccine crimes and corruptions complicate an already-immensely complicated public health crisis. These risks range from falsified and inferior vaccines entering the market, vaccine theft within distribution systems, leakages in emergency funding designated for the development and distribution of vaccines, nepotism, favoritism, corrupted procurement systems, and misinformation and conspiracy theories about the safety and efficacy of vaccines (“COVID-19 Vaccines and Corruption Risks”, 2021). The scale and complexity of combating this worldwide pandemic has been unprecedented in recent history, which has created this historical vaccine crisis. It is imperative to be informed on vaccine corruption, fraud, and misinformation to combat it properly.
Connection to STS Theory
COVID-related crimes are related to several theories of STS, including Modernization theory and Tragedy of the Commons. Modernization theory describes the advancement and progression of science and technology in a society as it becomes more updated. This is seen in COVID-related crimes. In a society where things like medicine, personal protective equipment, and vaccines are in high demand, criminals find new and advanced ways to take advantage of this opportunity by creating unique schemes that law enforcement agencies have seldom dealt with before. The tragedy of the commons is a theory in which people act in self-interest which results in the detriment or downfall of the society or population. This relates to crime because criminals who use tactics such as ransomware, fraudulent personas, and vaccine trafficking are attempting to profit by harming others.
Scams through Vaccine Deployment and Distribution Systems
Vaccine deployment is the process where the vaccine becomes accessible to the public. A key challenge when creating a global vaccine is achieving equitable distribution (Bloom et al., 2021). Throughout this entire process exists the risk for corruption. Vaccines are at risk of being stolen from the public supply chain during transport and once at a hospital or public health facilities and being diverted into the black market, resale, or kept for personal use ( “COVID-19 Vaccines and Corruption Risks”, 2021). This risk is so prevalent as supplies are limited and the demand for vaccines is high.
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