As covid-19 vaccines spread, so do underhand ways to get them

This article has been updated since its publication.

WHEN THE first covid-19 vaccines began to be distributed in December, Jürgen Stock, the secretary-general of Interpol, the world’s policing body, called them “the liquid gold of 2021, the most precious thing to distribute”. When something is precious, and in short supply, sharp practice, corruption and crime may not be far away.