Nurses detained for issuing false Covid vaccination certificates in Poland

Police in central Poland have detained three nurses accused of taking money for issuing over 100 EU vaccination certificates to people who had not been vaccinated against coronavirus.

Covid certificates are not required for entry to restaurants or entertainment venues in Poland, as they are in some other European countries. However, it is necessary to show one for air travel to many destinations, and there have been reports of a growing counterfeit trade.

Last month, a member of the government – digitisation minister Janusz Cieszyński – highlighted the problem by himself ordering a fake certificate online.

The nurses accused in the latest case were each employed at different vaccination points in the city of Kalisz but were allegedly working together on the scam. The alarm was raised when the city became an increasingly popular vaccination destination for residents of Warsaw and other large cities.

“Criminal information showed that in Kalisz you could sort out a dodgy document,” explained Andrzej Borowiak of Poznań police, quoted by the Polish Press Agency (PAP).

“Clients paid from 500 to 700 zloty [€110 to €150] and the nurses put their data into the system and printed a certificate confirming supposed vaccination against coronavirus,” he added.

Afterwards, the nurses destroyed the doses of vaccine without administering them, explained Maciej Meler of the district prosecutor’s office in Ostrów Wielkopolski. The women, aged between 38 and 58, issued more than 100 fake certificates, Meler added.

One of the nurses was the ringleader of the operation, working at the vaccination point where the data were fraudulently put into the system. The medical centre in question had a contract with Poland’s national health service (NFZ) to administer jabs

The equipment used for issuing the fake documents has been confiscated, and prosecutors are interviewing the detained nurses. A court will decide today whether they should be placed in pre-trial detention. If convicted, they could face up to eight years in prison, reports TVP.

Amid growing reports of similar scams, last month Cieszyński, the digitisation minister, himself responded to an online advertisement offering certificates without vaccination, reports Fakt.

He gave the personal identification number of a family member unable to be vaccinated for health reasons, and a doctor in Warmia-Masuria province immediately entered that person’s detail into the system as being fully vaccinated.

“The certificate was issued immediately,” Cieszyński said. “Straightaway I was able to download it. Of course, I informed the prosecutor’s office, because such actions undermine the credibility of the vaccination system.”

Such services are being offered online for as little as 200-300 zloty, according to Fakt. In July, the health ministry wrote to vaccination points warning them against issuing fake Covid certificates, as this practice “creates a risk of the virus spreading and may be classified as a criminal act,” reports Gazeta.pl

Poland today passed the figure of 20 million people fully vaccinated against coronavirus, around 53% of the total population. That compares to 65% in the European Union overall. Those who had their final dose six months ago or more are now able to register for a booster jab.

Main image credit: Nataliya Vaitkevich/Pexels

Ben Koschalka

Ben Koschalka is a translator and senior editor at Notes from Poland. Originally from Britain, he has lived in Kraków since 2005.