German doctor administered his own homemade vaccine to 20K people
Winfried Stöcker, a millionaire doctor from Germany, is facing criminal charges after vaccinating an estimated 20,000 people with a COVID-19 vaccine that he concocted, according to a report from The Irish Times.
Stöcker, who also is the owner of the Lübeck Airport in Germany, insists that his COVID-19 vaccine, which he called "Lubecavax," is 97 percent effective at preventing COVID-19 and is safe to be distributed as a three-dose course for full vaccination.
Police arrived at the scene of one of Stöcker's vaccination sites Sunday and shut the operation down as around 200 people waited in line to receive the doctor's self-developed shot. When police reached the scene, doctors on the site had already administered about 50 vaccines, reports the Times.
Wolfgang Kubicki, the lawyer representing Stöcker, contradicted claims that Stöcker faces criminal charges and said that the doctor was not present at that clinic and did not administer the vaccines.
Prosecutors from the German state of Lübeck are investigating four doctors for their involvement in Stöcker's supposed vaccination center, reports The Irish Times.
Additionally, Stöcker also may face lawsuits, as he ran the unauthorized vaccine campaign, which is considered a crime in Germany's Medicines Act, the Irish outlet reported.
The doctor says that he did not submit his home-cooked vaccine for approval because it would "take too long" and that it would "cost millions."
"We have a responsibility to the patients, not the state, but the police stopped everything," said Stöcker, according to the Times.
Stöcker claims to have tested the self-made vaccine on himself and 100 volunteers before he rolled it out to the public to about 20,000 people.
The doctor stated of those vaccinated with his home-brew, "Some 2,000 of them are under observation, no side effects were noted to date. There were virus breakthroughs in 10 people."
