State legislators want to crack down on fake vaccination cards

By ‘A’ali’i Dukelow

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    HONOLULU (KITV) — State legislators advanced House Bill 1571 on Tuesday, which proposes to penalize anyone who uses or sells fake vaccination cards.

The punishment would be $1,000 for using a forged card and $2,500 for selling or distributing one.

Months ago, a visitor mispelled the Moderna shot as “Maderna” on her forged vaccination card and got caught.

State Rep. Scot Matayoshil, who wrote the measure, said the goal of the bill is to prevent unvaccinated people from using forged vaccination cards and potentially infecting others who did receive the shot or who do not yet qualify for it.

“Not everyone in our population can be vaccinated, my son is too young to be vaccinated for example. So those are the people we are really trying to protect by this bill,” Matayoshi added.

As currently written, the bill deems the punishment a civil one.

The Department of the Attorney General, the entity tasked with enforcing the proposed penalty, suggests it be a criminal offense so all state and county enforcement agencies could investigate and prosecute offenders.

Matayoshi said he would include the change in the next committee hearing.

Less than a handful of testifiers wrote in support of the bill, while dozens submitted written statements in opposition.

The Hawai’i Primary Care Association (HPCA) expressed staunch support for the bill, but recommended legislators amend it to protect healthcare workers who may make errors, as they complete hundreds of thousands of vaccination cards.

“There may be instances when you know, they accidentally write down the wrong date or when they’re supposed to put the sticker onto the card it may not necessarily be on the right spot of the card or the sticker might fall off,” HPCA Public Affairs and Policy Director Erik Abe said.

Matayoshi is also planning to include a good faith exemption for healthcare workers in the next committee.

The bill must clear several other readings and committee hearings before heading to the senate.

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