Italian police have arrested a nurse in Palermo for allegedly pretending to give Covid vaccines to anti-vaxxer activists so they could benefit from official health certificates to travel and access bars, restaurants and public transport in the country.

Investigators used a hidden camera to film the nurse, a 58-year-old woman working at an inoculation centre in the Sicilian capital. The clip, released on Saturday on Twitter, shows the health worker apparently loading up a dose of Covid-19 vaccine and then emptying the syringe into a tissue before pretending to inject it into the arms of anti-vaxxers.

Police said the woman’s own booster dose was fake and arrested her on charges of forgery and embezzlement.

It is not the first time a nurse has been arrested in Italy for pretending to inject Covid vaccines. Dozens of health workers, including at least three doctors, have been charged or investigated on suspicion of administering fake jabs to people in recent months, with some paying up to €400 (£330) each for the service.

Last Wednesday, an Italian nurse in Ancona in the Marche region was arrested for allegedly giving fake Covid vaccines to at least 45 people. The health worker allegedly emptied vaccines into a medical waste bin.

According to investigators, anti-vaccine protesters were willing to pay up to €300 for the service in order to receive the so-called “super green pass”, introduced by the Italian government last December and required to access cinemas, gyms, nightclubs and stadiums, as well as to be served indoors at bars and restaurants.