A New York man was arrested on Friday after his employer reported him for providing a plagiarized COVID-19 vaccine card, according to the New York State Police.
David R. Kemp, a 24-year-old from Eaton, N.Y., was charged with a second-degree possession of a forged instrument, which qualifies for a Class D felony in the state of New York. The unauthorized use of a government agency’s seal is a federal crime.
A news release issued by the New York State Police detailed the arrest and charge but did not identify the private company based in Marcy, N.Y., that reported Kemp to the Department of Health Vaccination Complaint Investigation Team.
Lost your COVID-19 vaccine card?:Don’t worry, you can get a new one.
At-home COVID test:FDA authorizes COVID-19 home test from ACON Laboratories, potentially doubling the nation’s supply
Kemp was arraigned at the Oneida County Public Safety Building. If convicted, he could face up to seven years in prison, per the NYS Unified Court System. The minimum for the charge would be probation with no jail time.
This is not the first time COVID-19 documents have been faked. A 24-year-old woman from Illinois forged a COVID-19 vaccine card last month by misspelling Moderna. A Los Angeles couple was arrested last week for falsifying negative test results in Hawaii.
Because making a counterfeit document of COVID-19 results is not difficult given the cards are marked by hand, the FBI released a public warning in March that creating or buying a fake vaccine card is illegal. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention later delivered guidance to states to pull the templates from their sites back in April. New York is one of the few states to embrace a vaccination verification app.
‘Mark of the beast’:Is there a connection between the COVID-19 vaccine and the Bible?
