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Published 14:34 IST, September 17th 2021

Misinformation riles 100s seeking jabs in Venezuela

Chaos and disinformation reigned at one of the main vaccination centers in Caracas, as hundreds of people gathered hoping to get their second jab of Sputnik V vaccine on Thursday.

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Chaos and disinformation reigned at one of the main vaccination centers in Caracas, as hundreds of people gathered hoping to get their second jab of Sputnik V vaccine on Thursday.

The Russian embassy announced that a cargo of vaccines had arrived last week but the lack of official information about how it was to be administered has made people desperate.

A few people protested in the street on Thursday blocking the exterior of the vaccination center in Caracas.

Those protesting demanded vaccines and answers from authorities present, among them a group of Venezuelan National Guards and vaccination center workers.

Neither the guards nor the vaccination center workers had any real information to give to the public.

"I come here every day because I live nearby and I get up early and I come here and I don't get anything," said Alicia Machado a 75-year-old woman waiting outside the center.

Hundreds gathered down an exterior hallway desperately seeking information.

A woman wearing a blue surgical robe wrote down people's names so they could received further information by phone.

People who had been there the day before had numbers they were told assured them a place on the list.

It was unclear, however, if the people on the list were in fact going to be vaccinated.

"Everyone has their own version," said Ana Rosillon a 67-year-old woman who was waiting patiently seated on a folding chair she had brought with her to the vaccination center. "The truth is that there is a lot of confusion regarding what is happening right now."

Updated 14:34 IST, September 17th 2021