Faced with the threat posed by the rapid spread Ómicron variant, Gov. Kathy Hochul established a new strategy to fight the pandemic, f Irmo legislation that penalizes those who develop or use a fake vaccination card COVID-19 in New York.
The new law, which takes effect today, comes amid a surge in fake card sales in recent weeks, especially after the vaccination mandate for private-sector workers.
Various reports and media reports have revealed that professional athletes, high-ranking NYPD officers, FDNY and sanitation workers, and medical facility personnel have attempted to circumvent public health and safety regulations by using cards and passports. fake digitals.
Governor Hochul described the law as a great step, due to the efforts that the state governorship have been making to increase vaccination rates and study the effects that this pandemic has had on the economic and health system.
“We need to make sure we learn the lessons of the pandemic so that we don’t make the same mistakes twice. This law will help our crackdown on the fraudulent use of immunization records, and understand the areas that we need to improve in our health care system so that we can be even more prepared in the future, ”Governor Kathy Hochul said in an official statement.
This law will help people not to misrepresent their vaccination history, which ultimately, according to the governor, not only endangered their own health, but also that of those who have direct contact with someone infected.
“This legislation ensures that as New York opens and many companies choose to rely on verification of vaccination status, falsification of vaccination records will not be tolerated,” added the state leader.
Legislation introduced by Senator Anna M. Kaplan clarifies that a COVID-19 vaccination card will be considered a written instrument for purposes of the counterfeiting statute that makes counterfeiting COVID-19 vaccination cards a felony. class D.
It also creates a new “felony E” offense of computer tampering in the third degree for intentionally entering, altering, or destroying “computer material” with respect to the provisions of the COVID-19 vaccine.
“It has never been more urgent that we protect this process from fraud so that the health and safety of the public are not compromised by bad actors using fraudulent passports or vaccination cards. The law will serve as a strong deterrent to prevent people from lying about their vaccination status, protecting public health and ensuring that our economic recovery can move forward, ”said Senator Kaplan.
The manufacture of fake vaccines against COVID-19 was already classified as a federal crime. Weeks ago when a person was discovered selling fake vaccines in New York through social networks, the Manhattan District Attorney issued a statement assuring that they took strong measures against the accused and those who commit this crime.
“We will continue to safeguard public health in New York with proactive investigations. Making, selling, and buying counterfeit vaccination cards are serious crimes with serious consequences for public safety,” said Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr.
Explicit clarifications about the law: “Truth in the Vaccination Law” S.4516C / A.7536B, you must:
Explicitly criminalize the creation of a fraudulent COVID-19 vaccination card by modifying the legal definition of a “written instrument” to explicitly include a card provided to a person by a vaccine provider that indicates the date a person received the COVID-19 vaccine, as well as the type of vaccine and its lot number.
Explicitly criminalize the creation of a fraudulent COVID-19 Vaccination Passport by modifying the criminal law to create a crime of intentional alteration of computer material to indicate that a person received a COVID-19 vaccine.