VACCINE CARD FRAUD—it has begun. eBay lists an “Authentic CDC Vaccination Record Card” for $10.99, sold by a pharmacist in the Chicago area. It’s illegal, federal regulators say. But he has sold 100+ already, reports @ddiamond. #COVID19#CovidVaccine washingtonpost.com/health/2021/04…
2) the problems is that the card itself is genuine. That’s what makes this hard when people secretly resell these untracked blank vaccine cards. Without any public registry to verify, we won’t know. We need a registry!
3) “The listings are a “perfect example” of burgeoning scams involving coronavirus vaccination cards that could undermine people’s safety, as well as the success of the nation’s largest mass vaccination effort, said North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein.
4) “Individuals might use them to misrepresent their vaccination status at school, work or in various living and travel situations, potentially exposing others to risk.”
5) Stein, who led a recent effort with 47 colleagues demanding that eBay and other e-commerce platforms crack down on the scams, pointed to the FBI’s warning that anyone who makes or buys a fake vaccine card is breaking the law, and said he would consider prosecution, too.
6) “This is a concern that is national and bipartisan,” Stein added, saying the spread of fake vaccination cards “will extend the pandemic, resulting in more people sick and more people dead.”
7) At least 129.5 million Americans have gotten at least one or both doses of a coronavirus vaccine and have received a free proof-of-vaccination card with the logo of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as officials push to inoculate the nation.
8) But that vaccination drive has pitted people selling blank or fake credentials, against law enforcement officials rushing to stop them — and warning that the full scope of the problem is impossible to grasp.
9) Meanwhile here is the biggest irony... anti vax people want to have their freedom but fight so hard against their freedom from the pandemic.
10) Yes some states let’s you look up your vaccination record online—if you got it at a state run location. But what if you got it at CVS or other pharmacy?
And can others look you up? (Eg dinner party cross verification to check if your vaccine card is real). Many questions.
11) Meanwhile, anti mask conservatives gathered for a “Health and Freedom Conference” at a megachurch in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. The auditorium holds 7,000+.
“Broken arrow” is also a military term when a nuke is stolen, lost, or accidentally discharged.
12) are most Trump supporting conservatives anti vax and slower to vaccinate? Yes.
14) Also, why didn’t CDC create a digital vaccine card? @ddiamond report says the CDC ran out of time, supposedly. Let’s hope that is the complete story. We need a digital registry to help verify true vaccinations like e-verify for employment.
16) according to reporter @ddiamond who interviewed the pharmacist who owns the eBay account that posted vaccination cards for sale.... the pharmacist says his account was hacked yet admits he also posted other listings concurrently during that time. Weird.
Age 15-19 has emerged as currently the age group with the highest rate of #COVID19 in Germany 🇩🇪.
Also notice kids 5-9 and 10-14 now have the highest infection rates than ever before in the pandemic.
So, yeah, kids do get COVID, and kids to transmit. Full stop.
2) Is Germany the first to see this? No. A pediatric surge was also seen in Sweden as #B117 was rising there too. #B117 is now found to be more contagious in kids than old strain.
3) Cases are low in the elderly thankfully because of vaccinations. But worrisome still is that ICUs in Germany are still filling up and nearing former record rates.
FRESH HELL—Most participants (of vaccine hesitant Republican focus group) said they would **want a fake vaccination card** that would allow them to claim they had received shots” when given anonymity to speak honestly.
2) “If I have a fake vaccine card, yeah, I can go anywhere,” added a man who said he had turned down free New York Yankees tickets because of the team’s requirement to show proof of vaccination to attend games.
3) “Other participants said they wanted a fake card to attend concerts and go on trips, citing the growing number of organizations saying they will require proof of shots.”
OXYGEN LOW—Two of Delhi's top hospitals reported that their oxygen supplies will last for just 6-12 more hours. The crunch comes as Delhi struggles to cope with an unprecedented daily surge that reached 32,000 last evening.
An airplane janitor staff in Auckland🇳🇿 airport, who cleans planes “that flew internationally”—is positive for #COVID19 in weekly testing. 2x-Pfizer vaccinated, family neg, the cleaner’s job is “non-public facing”. Plane aerosol transmission?
2) NZ health authorities add “The person has been fully vaccinated—received two doses of Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine early in the vaccination campaign—in February and March. We know the Pfizer vaccine is highly effective, but at 95% effectiveness a small number may not be protected.”
3) “Breakthrough infections happen with all vaccines. This shows us how important it is that as many New Zealanders as possible take up the offer to receive vaccine when offered it and are protected. The more people that are vaccinated, the more protected we will all be.”
✈️ Outbreak—47 positive #COVID19 of a 188 seat Vistara flight from New Delhi to Hong Kong have tested positive, after all tested negative 72 hours prior. The scariest thing? Only 8 detected before began quarantine. 39 only identified later during hotel quarantine, 22 at day 12!🧵
2) If it weren’t for hotel quarantine—Hong along would have completely allowed these 39 to have begin spreading in the community! This is why border quarantines critical. google.com/amp/s/www.ndtv…
3) Even more scary detail, of the 47 cases, 22 of the cases were only discovered on day **12** of the hotel quarantine testing!!!
Ummm, what if—14 days might not be enough to find and block all border entry?
The new “double mutation” variant from India 🇮🇳 #B1617 is surging fast in UK—5x increase in % of #COVID19 cases in just 2 weeks. Same with the South Africa 🇿🇦 #B1351 variant. When did they increase? After schools reopened.
And keep in mind—it’s rising despite high vaccinations.
2) How does the India variant compare to #B117? It seems to be increasing faster than any other variant in the UK. It’s outcompeting it.
3) I know the variants are getting hard to keep track. But here is a handy shortcut info graphic.