Fake Vaccination Cards Out There, But Users Will be Caught

While the number of new infections in the Belize District is now on the decline, the Central Health Region has now started to see an increase in the number of fake vaccination cards being presented and circulated. Dr Musa revealed that several surfaced over the past few weeks and were detected when health officials cross-checked the information in their system.

Dr. Melissa Musa

Dr. Melissa Musa, Deputy Reg. Mgr., Central Health Region

“We have continued to get reports and employers and certain persons would send in cards for us to validate and to verify and we do have a process in place where if a card is picked up and we have a reporting system in place so it’s then investigated. So yes, there are certain circumstances where cards are being distributed and the person was not truly immunized or vaccinated.”

Marion Ali

“Is that a big problem? Do you find a lot of those instances…”

Dr. Melissa Musa

“Over the last few months, I think that the numbers had gone up a little bit but recently we have pout even stronger measures in place to make sure that this does not occur. So it is now something that we, now, over the last week, we know that the cards that are given and the information that is given –  the person is right there in front of us, we vaccinate and then we enter it into the system immediately. So that will really help to reduce – it will cause a slightly slower process, so we’re asking everybody out there to have patience with us. The lines aren’t long; it’s going very smoothly, but it will take a little longer.”

Marion Ali

“And how do you deal with those cases when you come across them, that somebody presents a fake card? Do you involve the Police at that stage?”

Dr. Melissa Musa

“Yes, we would usually report it to the Ministry of Health at the national level and they would take it from there. Sometimes the Police are involved.”