HibernateNow

with US border reopening today, what if foreign travelers use fake vaccination cards? how will airline or border agents tell if the cards are fake or real?

heck, even my US CDC vaccination card looks kind of "fake"...Walgreens pharmacist re-issued me one because I made the stupid mistake of laminating it after 2 doses.... and now the data for all 3 doses are written in the identical handwriting and pen on a new card... looks even more fake because she had absolutely beautiful penwomanship and every character was like artwork...

or is it more like some kind of honor system for foreign traveler attempting to enter the US?

YuropFlyer

Vaccination cards? In which century do you think we're living? We got apps for that.. with QR codes that can be scanned, to be double checked against government databases. Which can be updated, should a booster shot become necessary (and show validation dates, which can be shifted, if there is more knowledge about how long vaccinations stay powerful enough, or new variants require booster shots sooner)

In fact, we had plenty of issues with Americans bringing their "vaccination cards", which looked so amateurish, and couldn't be verified at all, when we opened our borders to you much earlier.

chris63

Because they are very experienced & backed up by technology

Anyone caught faking them, I hope they get locked up & the key 🔑 is thrown away

HibernateNow

even my primary doctor's office was not allow access to my vaccination records at the pharmacy... not until I signed and handed(or faxed) a consent form to the pharmacist, allowing them to release the data to my personal doctor. (all my doctor wanted to do was to add the three COVID-19 vaccination dates and Pfizer vaccine lot numbers to my records and the pharmacist absolutely refused to provide the info)

not to mention the fact that even fully vaccinated(2 or 3 doses) people can still carry the virus and even RT-PCR tests are not 100% accurate.... I have encountered so many breakthrough cases, it's scary... (some got negative tests and didn't start exhibit symptoms until 38 days later, which even the stand quarantine or self-isolate periods couldn't catch)

enviroian

I don't understand the post. Everyone coming in the US door has to take a covid test anyway so what difference does it really make?

chococat

Welcome to the world of HIPAA. Also, there are patients (more than you'd expect) that demand that their pharmacist NOT release information to their medical providers- usually this has to do with patients not wanting their doctors to know that they're doctor-shopping for pain meds, or not wanting anyone to know that they're taking medication for depression, anxiety, ED, herpes, whatever. You'd think that people would understand that, in order to optimize medication usage and avoid drug interactions, it's in everyone's best interest to know what drugs they're on, but that is not always the case. And the minimum fine for a willful HIPAA violation is $25,000, so the pharmacist is probably not going to bend the rules just for you.

travelinmanS

Heaven forbid a foreigner traveling to Orlando for a trip to Disney should use a fake vaccination card. Why, they might just re-introduce Covid to Florida where it’s so well controlled at the moment!

sydneyracquelle

Only by air. No covid test is required to enter USA by land from Canada or Mexico.

paperwastage

the same thing as other countries accepting USA CDC card

honor system for those without QR code), though I doubt airlines/customs will actually scan the QR code to check if available

if you get caught like these people, fines and/or jailtime
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/2...ada-u-n1275750
https://www.usatoday.com/story/trave...rd/5682888001/

VRFast

What makes you think that a “lowly” American border control agent is able to scan a “hip” European QR code? <sarcasm>
Are the US CBP connected to the Eurpean DB where they can get vaccinations status verified? The airlines at their European departure points can verify it I’m sure, but not sure if they can verify it on this side of Atlantic. Anyone know?

DrinkSlinger

The CBP can use one of the many available COVID certificate validation apps.

Collierkr

it is not about who catches it but who dies from it. Well established that unvaccinated have 10-20X death rate. So fake away!

SirJman

Until I roll up with my Thailand issued QR code that doesn't scan anywhere other than at Thai hospitals.

FlyingUnderTheRadar

As if that piece of paper can not be faked.

Doppy

Despite how easy it is to fake a CDC card, there have been a number of people who got into the newspaper for getting caught in Hawaii or Canada with a fake vaccination certificate. I don't know how it happened, but they did get caught and faced the consequences.

Overall I think that's a low risk - most people who want to travel will just get vaccinated rather than risk faking a vaccination certificate.

On a separate note, vaccinations massively reduce the odds of getting infected and the risk of spread even if a vaccinated person does get infected. Please stop spreading misinformation that it makes no difference. Even the recent Pfizer randomized controlled trial found that triple vaccinated people were 95% less likely to get infected than double vaccinated people. It doesn't need to be 100% to have a big effect on transmission, particularly when combined with testing.