MICHIGAN, USA — Many universities and employers are beginning to require COVID-19 vaccination. Now, there is some concern people will be buying or making fake vaccination cards, pretending to be inoculated when they are actually susceptible to the virus.
Attorney General Dana Nessel's office has not had any complaints related to scam vaccine cards. However, Nessel remains concerned about the dangerous effects they could have on public health. In April, she joined attorneys general across the country, calling on Twitter, eBay, and Shopify to prevent the sale of fraudulent CDC vaccination cards on their platforms.
There is also a large chance a fake vaccination card will not work. That is because of something called the Michigan Care Improvement Registry. That is a database healthcare providers and public health use to verify vaccination status.
"People can really do a good job at faking things," said Marcia Mansaray, deputy health officer for Ottawa County, talking about fake cards, "We have an immunization registry in every state that can't be faked."
Mansaray said they also have not found any fraudulent vaccine cards in the county recently. However, it does put others at risk. For example, if a university requires vaccination, and someone uses a fake card to prove their status, it creates false security and health risk in that setting.
"I think that's something that we need to think about, as a country, policy-wise," said Mansaray, "How are we going to determine? We do that great with our licenses. This is a risk. It puts other people at risk, who don't have a choice about it. Who don't have informed consent about it when someone's using a fraudulent card."
Grand Valley State University issued a vaccination mandate by September 30 on Friday. During a press conference, Greg Sanial, director of the Virus Action Team, said students will upload pictures of their vaccination cards on their self-assessment. The university can then cross-check that information with databases online to verify vaccination status.
"I think our system is pretty sound, in terms of protecting against fraudulent activity with the vaccine," said Brian Hartl, Supervising Epidemiologist for the Kent County Health Department, "But it does, you know, just kind of raise concern that people aren't taking this seriously, and they're trying to get around the means of what we have to protect people's health."
According to an announcement from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, unauthorized use of an official government agency's seal, such as the CDC, is a crime. Under Title 18 United States Code, Section 1017, that could mean up to five years in prison, a fine, or both.
While Mansaray said Ottawa County does not have reports of fraudulent vaccine cards, they have seen people try to get a third COVID-19 shot. This is something she said is not authorized.
The Better Business Bureau (BBB) offered tips to avoid vaccine passport cons:
- Be skeptical of any vaccine passport app that claims to be from the U.S. federal government. Right now, there is no plans to create a national vaccine passport.
- Check with the company directly when flying or attending an event. You many need proof of a negative COVID-19 test or vaccine.
- Do not buy fraudulent vaccine cards.
- Research vaccine passport apps.
- Keep your government-issued numbers secret.
- Double check URLs.
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