The Legality of Fake Vaccine Cards

Happy Friday everybody, hope you had a great week. So this week is a topical one, we are going to talk about fake vaccine cards. So it’s kind of all over the place right now. You’ve got a debate raging on whether or not these vaccine passports or vaccine cards can be used to bar entry into certain things, and I’m not going to get into that, right? That’s a totally different video, totally different bait. But what I am going to talk about is there is some questions that I’ve been hearing on what can happen to you, if you possess a fraudulent COVID vaccine card, kind of like a fake ID, it’s the new the form of fake ID. There’s this whole underground movement of people that are creating, buying and selling these fake vaccine cards and it’s kind of ridiculous.

So anyway, I wanted to put this out there just for your information. Just so you’re aware, possessing, creating, selling, anything like that, one of these fake vaccine cards is not only pretty unethical, but it’s also illegal. It is a federal crime because there is a federal law that prohibits you duplicating or possessing a document that has a duplication of an official governmental seal of an agency for fraudulent purposes. So, the vaccine cards have the logo of the CDC. The CDC is a governmental agency, therefore duplicating that logo for fraudulent purposes is a federal crime, range of punishment goes up to five years. There’s also some hefty fines that come along with it and all that stuff. So it is an actual federal law that you are violating if you have one of these fake vaccine cards.

Now a lot of people ask, “Yeah, but would they really prosecute something like that?” Hard to say. What I will say is they just, I think read today, it was either today or yesterday, they charged a pharmacist up in Chicago because he was selling these fake cards on eBay. So I know for a fact that they will and have charged people for selling them. Will they charge you for actually possessing them? I don’t know. Probably not worth risking to find out, especially if you’re using them to gain entry into some place and something happens, you’re exposing yourself to a pretty big risk from a legal standpoint.

On top of federal law, there’s also various state laws out there that you could find yourself in trouble of. Like in the state of Texas, there are forgery laws that you could find yourself running afoul of, if you’re faking these vaccine cards, you’re creating these fake vaccine cards, especially if you’re selling them for monetary gain, you’re exposing yourself to some pretty substantial criminal liability, both on the state side and the federal side. And I’m sure other states have similar forgery type laws or providing false identification type laws out there that a zealous prosecutor could probably look to use, to expose just some criminal liability.

So again, short answer to the question are fake vaccine cards illegal? Yes they are. Can you be charged criminally if you have them? Yes, you can. Can you be charged criminally if you make them and sell them? Absolutely, yes you can. So don’t do that unless you need me to step in and help you, and that’s what I’m hoping to avoid. So as always, I get that in issues like this, there are going to be people that agree with that or disagree with that, or think that, that’s stupid or the law sucks or whatever. And I get it. I’m not here to tell you the laws right wrong or indifferent. I’m just simply saying this is what the law is. Can you be charged with a crime if you do that? Yes, you can. So be aware of that.

Be cognizant of that. If you have any questions on this or anything else, as always, feel free to give me a call, shoot me an email, drop a comment. I’m pretty bad at responding to YouTube comments because to be honest, the comment sections are usually dumpster fires in, YouTube videos. But if you send me an email, I typically respond to those every time. So my email address is at the end of the video. Shoot me an email if you have a specific question and I’m happy to discuss them with you there. Hope you have a great weekend. Stay safe out there, have a good rest of your week, and I will see you next Friday.

Author Bio

James P. Whalen

James P. Whalen is the managing attorney and founder of Whalen Law Office, a Texas criminal defense firm offering personalized legal representation for various federal criminal charges. With a commitment to providing comfort and guidance during challenging times, Mr. Whalen serves as both an attorney and counselor to his clients, helping them navigate their cases while striving to restore normalcy to their lives.

In an inherently unbalanced criminal justice system, Mr. Whalen takes on cases with unwavering dedication. With decades of legal experience, he offers representation across various criminal charges, including white-collar crimes, violent crimes, drug charges, and more. Mr. Whalen’s numerous accolades, including Super Lawyer recognition and board certification in Criminal Appellate Law and Criminal Law, reflect his unwavering commitment to ethical and high-quality legal representation.

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