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Chapel Hill, North Carolina – The college students are ready to spend a lot of money to get their hands on vaccination cards. The cards, of course, are free as proof that a person has had the COVID-19 vaccine. But students are using the forgeries to provide that proof and bypass campus demands that they get vaccinated or undergo regular testing.
At the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, students must provide a copy of the card before they return to campus or be tested weekly. Duke University requires students to present proof of vaccination without an alternative test.
Less than a week after students were briefed on the new rules, a UNC professor sounded the alarm on Twitter about students knowing how to buy fake COVID-19 vaccine cards and knowing others who had submitted one to the university.
“It’s really disturbing how far some students are willing to go to subvert the demands of college and really subvert their duty to their fellow students to keep everyone safe,” said Simon Palmore.
Palmore is a junior at UNC. He said he had heard from many of his classmates who decided to buy vaccination cards to send to college.
“There’s a reason the university requires all unvaccinated students to undergo regular testing, and these students are going to be able to bypass regular testing while also not being protected from the virus and preventing the spread of others. Said Palmore.
“For me, the type of people who would forge a vaccine card are the type of people who could go to parties and get COVID, and this is the group that I think should be tested every week,” JD said. Boyd, dental student at UNC.
Students describe it as easily as getting a fake ID. Online sellers have made blank cards more accessible to everyone.
“I’m in the health care business,” Boyd said, “It’s absolutely horrible. We’re on an educated college campus in one of the most educated places in the world and how can you tamper with a vaccination card? when you have people to worry about? “
WRAL News has brought the issue to Orange County Health Department officials who have called the counterfeits and counterfeits very dangerous.
“If anyone is trying to get around the testing requirements, this is really something that should be treated harshly by any university we think of,” said Todd McGee of the Orange County Department of Health.
With the Delta variant soaring and the fall semester just two weeks away, some are hoping the UNC will crack down a bit harder.
“I think if there was a requirement for a vaccine, the university will be forced to take a closer look at these vaccination cards and verify that they are in fact legitimate,” Palmore said.
In response to questions from WRAL, UNC sent this statement from Jonathan Sauls, Senior Associate Vice Chancellor for Student Success and Administration:
“Throughout the pandemic, our students have demonstrated their commitment to limiting the spread of COVID-19 by participating in regular testing, and now by getting vaccinated.
“We trust our students to do the right thing, but for anyone considering falsifying their immunization status information, we have a simple message: don’t do it.
“Providing false information about immunization status is a violation of the university’s honor code and our COVID-19 community standards. Violations may result in disciplinary action up to and including suspension from university. “
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