Not Worth the Paper It's Printed On

The golden ticket

The vaccination card is a piece of light cardboard to which is affixed some stickers, date stamps, and a nurse's handwriting.

When vaccinations began before spring it seemed that everyone reacted with light-hearted exuberance; the cards enabled them to get free Krispy Kreme doughnuts and discounts on items that they would never consider buying.

But then having a vaccination card became serious. Like an original Social Security card, that fragile square has risen greatly in importance.

Public spaces, buildings, sporting events, some employers and schools, and even the entire State of Hawaii require its possession.

Juli Mazi

Headline: Bay Area doctor arrested for allegedly selling fake COVID-19 vaccination cards

A Napa homeopathic doctor was arrested Wednesday for allegedly selling what she claimed was a COVID-19 antibody treatment and fake vaccination cards, according to federal authorities.

Juli A. Mazi, 41, allegedly sold immunization pellets to patients, claiming it would provide “lifelong immunity to COVID-19,” and give customers fake vaccination cards with instructions on how to falsify they received two shots of the Moderna vaccine, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Federal authorities said Mazi is the first to face criminal charges related to fake COVID-19 vaccination cards and what are known as homeoprophylaxis immunizations. She’s facing charges of wire fraud and false statements related to health.

Comments: 1) Because the vaccination card has become so valuable, the government ought to make it as hard to counterfeit as a driver's license; 2) The cards have been out for four months; it's surprising that Juli Mazi is one of the first, if not the first, to be arrested. 3) A story like this damages the legitimization efforts of alternative medicine practitioners.