8/17/2021- 5:49 p.m.
Chicago – Tangtang Zhao, 34, sold 125 authentic Centers of Disease Control vaccination cards to about a dozen buyers for $10 each. Zhao was charged with allegedly selling more than 100 Covid-19 vaccination cards on eBay.
Prosecutors say that Mr Zhao was a licensed pharmacist in the state of Illinois and worked at a pharmacy that distributed and administered COVID-19 vaccines.
“We take seriously, and will vigorously investigate, any criminal offense that contributes to the distrust around vaccines and vaccination status,” said Assistant Attorney General Kenneth Polite Jr, of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division.
“Knowingly selling Covid vaccination cards to unvaccinated individuals puts millions of Americans at risk of serious injury or death,” said Special Agent in Charge Emmerson Buie Jr of the FBI’s Chicago Field Office.
Mr Zhao has been charged with 12 counts of theft of government property, according to the indictment. Mr Zhao made his initial court appearance on Tuesday in the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois and if convicted faces 10 years in prison on each count.
Earlier this week officials in Hawaii arrested a Florida couple and accused them of trying to get around the state’s Safe Travel’s programme using fake vaccination cards.
Daniela and Enzo Dalmazzo, of Miami, Florida, flew to Oahu with their two children on 11 August and also allegedly had fake cards for their two children, who are too young to even receive the vaccine.
The United States has seen more than 37m cases of Covid-19 during the pandemic, and 622,000 deaths.
