Cruel fraudsters are going door to door and offering to sell fake Covid-19 vaccines.
The practice was condemned in the House of Commons by North East MP Sharon Hodgson, who said: "As rumours swirl in the press about a delay to the vaccine in the UK, it is even more important that the Government take urgent action to stop fraudulent opportunists from exploiting the vulnerable."
Police Minister Kit Malthouse condemned the crime as "disgraceful".
NHS figures show 25,476409 vaccinations have taken place across England, including more than four million in the North East and Yorkshire.
But the Government has said there will be a slowdown in vaccine supplies in April, though it is still on course to offer everyone 50 or over a vaccination by April 15, and to offer a first dose of a Covid-19 vaccine to all adults in the UK by the end of July.
The EU has also threatened to withhold vaccine supplies to the UK, because it claims it is not receiving a fair share of the AstraZeneca vaccine.
At the same time, a rise in infections in parts of Europe has led to new lockdown restrictions being imposed.
Ms Hodgson, Labour MP for Washington and Sunderland West, said: "Recent months have seen an increasing number of scams related to the coronavirus vaccine."
Questioning Home Office Ministers in the House of Commons, she asked: "With one scam charging for a fake vaccine on the doorstep, will the Minister detail what steps the Government can take, in addition to what he has already mentioned, to tackle this dangerous fraud?"
Mr Malthouse said: "I can well understand the hon. Lady’s frustration and fear about this issue. For people to be duped by others offering fake vaccines is a disgraceful type of crime, particularly as we face this awful pandemic together.
"We are working closely with partners across health and law enforcement to make sure that we catch up with these villains as quickly as we possibly can.
"I have been reassured by the fact that the number of vaccine-related frauds that have been reported is, pleasingly, still quite low, but we continue to monitor the situation carefully.
"I urge people who come across this kind of instance to report it, please, to the City of London’s Action Fraud as soon as they can."
Health Secretary Matt Hancock warned today that Europe is facing a third wave of coronavirus.
He said: "The challenge we face is that our near neighbours are seeing this third wave, we've seen the action taken by Germany late last night, and by France in the last few days to tackle their rising number of cases.
"And we've seen in the first and then the second wave, that this wave from Europe, as the prime minister put it, crashed against our shores. We have to do everything we can to prevent that and keep people safe here."
