WILL THAULT: Fake vaccination cards … the latest rage

Fake IDs have long been the underage smoker/drinker’s best friend, but how about fake vaccination cards? Actually, they’re not fake. They’re authentic CDC COVID-19 vaccination cards that were reportedly being sold on eBay. This, according to an online article I found on the Albany Herald’s website earlier this week, was allegedly being done by Chicago pharmacist Tangtang Zhao, who was arrested on 12 counts of theft of government property by the FBI last Tuesday. The department charges that he sold 125 of these cards to 11 different buyers for about $10 each.

If proven true, he’ll have to go down in history as one of the dumbest criminal masterminds ever – and that’s saying a lot. First, you steal official, not counterfeit, CDC vaccination cards, then post them on eBay for all the world to see and – here’s the punch line – sell them for about 10 bucks a pop, bringing down a cool $1,200 over a two month period before getting caught.

Which begs the question: What took law enforcement so long to discover this crime hiding in plain sight? But that’s just one example. According to recent U.S. Customs and Border Protection reports on their website, to date, the Memphis, Tenn., office has made 121 seizures totaling 3,017 counterfeit COVID-19 vaccination cards coming from Shenzhen, China. Last Wednesday, the CBP Anchorage, Alaska, Office seized more than 3,000 more counterfeits, also from China.

All this got me thinking … no matter which side of the fence you’re on — for or against card-carrying proof of having had a COVID-19 vaccination — it’s inevitable that a black market for these so-called vaccine passports will spread faster than you can say pandemic. Get-rich-quick crooks see that there’s an irreconcilable war brewing between the vaxxed and the unvaxxed. Among these haves and have nots, the unvaxxed will be the black marketeers’ prime target. Why?

Already, a wave of both public and private corporations, led by Google, Facebook, the Washington Post, the NFL, United Airlines and Disney, as well as federal and some state governmental agencies, are demanding that their employees show proof of vaccination or risk the threat of unpaid leave or termination. New York City has implemented the strictest mandates so far. As of this week, if you want to gain entry to indoor dining, gyms, shows or concerts in the city, you’ll need to show both a photo ID and vaccine passport of some sort.

The point of this article isn’t to debate the reasons behind refusing the vaccine, be it real or imagined. It’s to recognize the unavoidable fact that, as these mandates spread, push-back from the unvaxxed will invariably result – especially if it could mean losing their jobs. Many of these folks will be looking for ways to game the system, by taking their chances with black market fake vaccination cards. Be forewarned, though. The FBI says that “buying, selling or using a counterfeit COVID-19 vaccination card is a crime. Violators face a fine and up to five years in prison.”

Mandating the show of proof of any sort of vaccination to an employer or place of business is something new. It’s not the same thing as a state-mandated vaccination for public schools … MMR, DTaP, IPV, etc. While these vaccinations and others are required in order to attend public schools, to my knowledge, employers or businesses have never asked for evidence of working-age adults having had these shots. The only other examples of mandatory vaccinations that come to mind are those within the military or as a requirement for travel to certain countries abroad. Again, employers don’t require proof from any of the above as a condition for employment, but the new wave does.

Perhaps if and when the Federal Drug Administration approves the COVID-19 vaccination drugs, it will be harder not to justify its safety and usage, and the unvaxxed will reconsider their views.

Until then, unless states or the feds come up with a more counterfeit-resistant card and method of distribution, who can say with certainty that everyone is truly vaccinated as the mandators require? Mandating proof of vaccinations then becomes more for show than for substance.