By Roselyn Romero - The Associated Press
SAN LUIS OBISPO, California (AP) - As the delta variant of the coronavirus spreads across the United States, more and more colleges are demanding proof of COVID-19 vaccination for students to enroll.
But this has opened the door for those who oppose vaccination and want to cheat the system, according to interviews with students, education officials and agents.
Both teachers and students at dozens of schools interviewed by
The Associated Press
news agency
say they
are concerned about how easy it is to obtain fake vaccination records.
Through the Internet, a small industry has emerged that adapts to the demands of people who decide not to get vaccinated for personal or religious reasons.
[Follow our coverage of the coronavirus pandemic]
An Instagram account with the username 'vaccination cards'
sells them laminated for $ 25 each
.
A user of the encrypted messaging app Telegram offers 'COVID-19 Vaccine Certificates', for up to $ 200 each.
A growing number of inquiries to these sites and others like them seem to come from those who are trying to obtain fake vaccination cards to go to college.
One Reddit user commented in a thread about counterfeiting COVID-19 vaccination cards: “I need one for college too.
I refuse to be a guinea pig. "
Two counterfeit CDC COVID-19 vaccination cards, provided by the Northern District Court of California.AP
On Twitter, a user with more than 70,000 followers wrote: “My daughter bought 2 fake IDs online for $ 50 while she was in college.
Sent from China.
Does anyone have the link for the immunization records?
According to a tally by
The Chronicle of Higher Education
,
at least 675 colleges and universities already require proof of vaccination against COVID-19
.
The process to confirm it becomes as simple as uploading a photo of the card to the school website.
[No, the increase in COVID-19 cases is not the fault of immigrants]
In Nashville, Vanderbilt University temporarily prevents a student from registering for its course until their immunization record has been verified, unless they have an approved medical record or religious exemption.
The University of Michigan has a system to confirm vaccinations for employees and students.
A university spokesman told
The Associated Press
that so far the school has had no problem with any student falsifying immunization records.
But Benjamin Mason Meier, a professor of global health policy at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, questions how institutions go about verifying those records.
"The
United States
, unlike most countries that have electronic systems,
bases its vaccination on a flimsy paper card,
" he said.
Meier tweeted last week that several students told him they were concerned about the ease of falsifying the coronavirus vaccination cards, after one of his classmates sent a false receipt to the university.
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“There need to be accountability policies to make sure that all students work in the collective interest of the entire campus,” he said.
Students around the country who were interviewed by
The Associated Press
but who preferred not to be identified said they were aware of the falsification of the cards.
Some school officials recognize that a foolproof system is impossible
.
"As with anything that requires certification, there is the potential for someone to falsify documentation," said Michael Uhlenkamp, spokesman for the office of the chancellor at California State University.
The school system, which is the largest in the country, supervises about 486,000 students each year at 23 campuses.
In March, concern over fake COVID-19 vaccination cards prompted the FBI to issue a joint statement with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), urging people not to buy, create, or sell apocryphal cards.
[California will force its teachers to get vaccinated or undergo periodic tests for COVID-19]
Unauthorized use of the seal of a government agency such as HHS or the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
is a federal crime that carries a possible fine and a maximum of five years in prison.
In April, a bipartisan coalition of 47 state attorneys general sent a letter to the CEOs of Twitter, Shopify and eBay to remove ads or links promoting counterfeit cards.
Many of the sites have blacklisted keywords related to these searches, but internet sites where you can buy illegal documents abound, both in messaging applications, chat forums and on the dark
web
. ).
Vendors on websites like Counterfeit Center, Jimmy Black Market, and Buy Express Documents sell fake COVID-19 vaccine cards, certificates and vaccination passports, some for 400 euros, about $ 474.
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Requiring vaccinations to attend classes at colleges and universities has become a political issue
in some states.
Public universities in at least 13 states, including Ohio, Utah, Tennessee and Florida, cannot require their staff and students to be vaccinated because state law prevents it, although private schools can.
Among states that introduce and pass bills that prohibit educational institutions from requiring COVID-19 vaccines,
infringement of individual rights or freedoms is
often
cited as the top concern
.
But according to a statement issued by the American College Health Association and other educational organizations, these restrictions prevent universities from operating safely.
[Political and judicial battle in Florida and Texas so that children can wear a mask despite the prohibitions of the governors]
Some college students have taken to social media platforms such as Twitter and TikTok to express their outrage that other students use fraudulent vaccination cards.
Maliha Reza, an electrical engineering student at Pennsylvania State University, said she finds it
surprising that there are those who pay for a fake card when they can get the vaccine for free.
"I am angry about that, more than I could say at the moment. It is silly considering that the vaccine is free and can be accessed throughout the country," Reza denounced.
