A NURSE and a nursing assistant attached to the One Mile Health Centre at Linden were on Monday charged for forging COVID-19 vaccination booklets, and each released on $200, 000 bail.

Sandrene Chapman, a 33-year-old registered nurse, and 27-year-old nursing assistant Anastasia McKenzie, appeared before Magistrate Wanda Fortune at the Linden Magistrate’s Court, where they pleaded not guilty to the charge when it was read to them.

In addition to the bail, they are required to report to the Mackenzie Police Station every first Monday.

The case is adjourned until November 23.

According to reports, on October 15, Chapman and McKenzie were arrested at the One Mile Health Centre following a sting operation by the district police for allegedly selling COVID-19 vaccination booklets. The Guyana Chronicle was made to understand that the forged booklets were being sold for $35,000 apiece, and the two have implicated several of their peers in the scam.

Recently, Mark Samuels, a driver attached to the Ministry of Health was remanded to prison for allegedly breaking into a vaccination centre in Georgetown, and stealing 66 COVID-19 vaccination booklets.

Similarly, Avinash Ramaherwar, a driver who was employed at the West Demerara Regional Hospital, was remanded to prison for stealing 12 COVID-19 vaccination booklets from the Ministry of Health and forging them.

Health Minister Dr. Frank Anthony, during a recent COVID-19 update, said that soon a new type of COVID-19 vaccination card will be introduced as part of efforts to curb the forging of vaccination documents.

“We are going to change the current system, so we are working on that right now. And, very soon, we are going to introduce a different type of card that’s going to be harder to forge; and if people did not have the proper documentation in the first place, then they are not going to get the new card that we’ll be putting in,” Minister Anthony said.

Dr. Anthony said that while the majority of persons in the healthcare sector are “honest, hardworking people”, there are a few who are dishonest, and are facilitating the forging of COVID-19 vaccination booklets. He disclosed that currently, there are 15 cases of this type of forgery being investigated by the Guyana Police Force.

The Health Minister highlighted that this type of practice is dangerous, and once a person is caught forging documents, he or she will face the full brunt of the law.

“If you’re facilitating somebody to get the card, but they didn’t get the vaccine, then, when they get sick, we’ll probably think that they have been immunized, and we are getting a breakthrough infection, when, in the first place, they did not get the vaccine at all. So, we have to put an end to this practice, and I want to urge those healthcare workers who have been involved in this to desist.”

He added that healthcare workers who are found guilty of engaging in such activities also face the possibility of being discharged from working in the medical field. Additionally, persons found in possession of forged COVID-19 vaccination cards will face the full force of the law.

“This is a really serious offence, the persons who are buying these cards. If we catch you, you are going to be charged for tendering a forged document. So, you know, either way it’s those who enable this, and those who are caught with those documents are going to face serious penalties,” Dr. Anthony related.