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(CNN Spanish) -
Faced with the new wave of covid-19, several cities in the United States - such as Los Angeles, New York and partially San Francisco - are beginning to require proof of vaccination against covid-19 to guarantee entry to closed places such as shops, restaurants, bars, gyms, cinemas, concert halls, among other establishments.
However, falsification of tests is on the rise as new vaccination mandates are imposed.
Recently, President Joe Biden announced that all federal employees and contractors will need to be vaccinated against COVID-19, or face strict protocols such as undergoing periodic testing.
Similar measures have been adopted by different state governments, companies, and educational institutions.
In some states, not being vaccinated can even mean job loss.
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And even though the CDC vaccination cards "were never designed to prove your vaccination status," they are the most widely accepted proof of vaccination.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) indicates that at the moment, there are no official plans to create a nationwide application for vaccination verification or the creation of a vaccination certificate or passport.
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Some experts say that illegal markets around vaccination cards and digital passports are inevitable.
"If people can easily get a fake passport to avoid restrictions, then they will, and an illicit market will emerge around them," said Michela Menting, who covers cybersecurity for ABI Research.
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For its part, the cybersecurity company Check Point Software indicated that its researchers have seen an "exponential growth" in the number of subscribers to groups and channels that offer vaccination cards on the "dark web" or dark internet.
"Groups advertising the sale of [vaccination] certificates sometimes contain up to 450,000 people," the company's August report reads.
The legal consequences
Crimes associated with making or using fake vaccination cards include misuse of government stamps, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) says.
According to the FBI "the unauthorized use of the seal of an official government agency", such as that of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) or the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) "is a crime."
Federal law stipulates that whoever fraudulently or improperly "affixes or prints the seal of any United States department or agency" or who "uses, buys, acquires, sells, or transfers" any document or certificate on which said seal is affixed. or fraudulently recorded you will be fined, imprisoned for no more than five years or both.
A California bar owner was arrested for selling fake Covid-19 vaccination cards.
Health risks
In addition to committing a crime, people who use a fake vaccination card expose themselves and others to the risks of contracting COVID-19.
Facilities that require proof of vaccination may relax physical distancing, so a person carrying a fake vaccination card could be sick and transmit the virus.
And although vaccines against covid-19 are very effective and the chances of a vaccinated person becoming seriously ill are low, vaccines are not 100% effective in preventing infections.
Also, the risks could increase for vaccinated older people.
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"We've seen many articles now ... suggesting that [in] even a vaccinated person, the virus can still grow in you" to a lesser degree, and not enough to make the person sick, Dr. Michael Mina, assistant professor of epidemiology and immunology at the Harvard School of Public Health.
"If you weren't vaccinated, you wouldn't want to be around someone who is vaccinated and is positive," Mina said.
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Jason Hanna contributed to this report.
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