Key Takeaways

With morevaccine mandatesin place, the small white vaccination card can be essential for gaining access to many spaces.

Federal agencies releasedpaper cardsas proof of COVID-19 vaccination in December 2020. They are meant to help partially vaccinated people remember when to get a second shot and serve as a record for fully immunized individuals.

To skirt the mandates without actually receiving the shot, some are fabricating vaccination cards or turning to the black market for counterfeit cards.

“It’s very easy to fake—it doesn’t require rocket science to replicate,”Robert Quigley, MD, DPhil, senior vice president and global medical director at International SOS, tells Verywell, adding that the cards are made of paper and don’t include a photo of the card carrier.

Across encrypted messaging apps, social media platforms, and black market sites, users are selling forged vaccine cards for as much as $200 a piece, according to anAssociated Pressinvestigation.

In July, a homeopathic doctor in California was arrested on charges that she sold patients “immunization pellets” and provided customers with fake COVID-19 vaccination cards saying they had received the Moderna vaccine. In some cases, she gave patients blank cards and instructions on how to fill them out with a fraudulent Moderna vaccine lot number.

A California bar owner was arrested in May forallegedly sellingfake COVID-19 vaccination cards for $20 a piece.

“If we’ve got people out there that are falsifying their status, and in the absence of any other mitigation policies or procedures in place, we run the risk of there being spreading events and vectors,” Quigley says. “It’s unfortunate, because there may be some innocent lives that are lost.”

How to Check for Fake COVID-19 Vaccination Cards

Federal agencies released apublic service announcementin March urging people not to buy, sell or create fake vaccine cards. Creating a fraudulent document featuring the seal of an official government agency is afederal crimethat is punishable with a fine and a maximum of five years in prison.

The FBI also recommends against posting images of your vaccine card to social media sites because others may use your personal information to commit fraud.

Better Business Bureau: Don’t Post COVID-19 Vaccine Card on Social Media

In lieu of a universal vaccine passport, it is often up to individual institutions, businesses, or localities to determine how they will check for vaccination status.

When in doubt, the facility that issues the card may be able to provide more information on the card’s correct format, he says.

What This Means For YouIt is illegal to forge a COVID-19 vaccine card. Entering a space for vaccinated people with a fake card may increase the risk of COVID-19 spread. If you are concerned about the possibility of sharing a space with someone who may be dishonest about their vaccination status, experts recommend wearing a mask and social distancing to stay safe.

What This Means For You

It is illegal to forge a COVID-19 vaccine card. Entering a space for vaccinated people with a fake card may increase the risk of COVID-19 spread. If you are concerned about the possibility of sharing a space with someone who may be dishonest about their vaccination status, experts recommend wearing a mask and social distancing to stay safe.

Curbing COVID-19 Spread With a Multi-layered Approach

The Biden administration has said thatthere will not be a single, standardized way to prove vaccination statusin the United States. This means it is up to individual states, localities and institutions to determine how they will distinguish vaccinated individuals from the unvaccinated.

Some are creating apps to help people more easily and securely access spaces where vaccines are required. For instance, New Yorkers can useExcelsior Passto access their digital proof of vaccination,which checks against the state database.At some of the 675 colleges and universities requiring COVID-19 vaccination, students must only upload an image of their CDC vaccination card to their student portal, theAPreported.

When it is challenging to verify individuals’ vaccination status, Quigley says institutions or businesses can use a multi-layered approach to reduce the risk of COVID-19 spread.

“We know that social distancing works. We know that masks work. We know the vaccines definitely work, but we can’t assure ourselves that somebody walking into our facility is carrying a fraudulent card or a real card, so we go back to those measures that we know work to help mitigate against the spread of this virus,” Quigley says.

With the spread of the highly contagious Delta variant, he says it’s especially important that people take all available precautions to avoid the evolution of more dangerous viral variants.

“You throw in another variable, like fake vaccination cards, and you’re just muddying the waters,” Quigley says. “You’re just creating more anarchy in a situation where we don’t need anarchy. We need structure, and we need hope.”

How to Show Proof of Vaccination in New York City

The information in this article is current as of the date listed, which means newer information may be available when you read this. For the most recent updates on COVID-19, visit ourcoronavirus news page.

1 SourceVerywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.The U.S. Department of Justice.Women Arrested for Fake COVID-19 Immunization and Vaccination Card Scheme. Justice.gov. July 14, 2021.

1 Source

Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.The U.S. Department of Justice.Women Arrested for Fake COVID-19 Immunization and Vaccination Card Scheme. Justice.gov. July 14, 2021.

Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

The U.S. Department of Justice.Women Arrested for Fake COVID-19 Immunization and Vaccination Card Scheme. Justice.gov. July 14, 2021.

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