7 ways hospitals are verifying employee vaccine cards to combat fakes

By Hannah Mitchell for Becker’s Hospital Review

Hospitals are implementing several procedures to verify COVID-19 vaccine cards submitted by employees, as some employees have been linked to using fake cards to bypass vaccine mandates.

Several employees at Newark, N.J.-based University Hospital have been fired for submitting fake vaccine cards to comply with its COVID-19 vaccine mandate. New York prosecutors charged Jasmine Clifford of New Jersey for allegedly selling 250 fraudulent vaccine cards through her Instagram account. Ms. Clifford allegedly worked with Nadayza Barkley, who worked at a New York medical clinic, to enter names into the state’s vaccine database. Some of the purchasers worked in hospitals.

Below are seven ways Scripps Health and Geisinger told Becker’s Hospital Review they are verifying COVID-19 vaccine cards.

Scripps Health (San Diego):

1. Employees who receive vaccines at Scripps Health have their vaccination status captured in their employee health records, according to Steve Carpowish, a spokesperson for Scripps Health.
2. Employees who receive vaccines outside of Scripps are verified, whether by hard copy cards or electronic copies.
3. If a vaccine card is questionable, Scripps reaches out to the source provider to verify the vaccine. The system has not found any concerning documentation, the spokesperson told Becker’s.

Geisinger (Danville, Pa.):

4. When an employee uploads their vaccine card, they enter their name, email and employee Geisinger ID number, said Stephanie Gryboski, associate vice president of emergency and employee health.
5. Geisinger’s database checks to authenticate the information provided.
6. Geisinger leadership individually views uploaded vaccine cards to validate the name, birthdate, vaccine manufacturer, lot number, date and location it was administered.
7. Geisinger accepts copies of immunization records from COVID-19 vaccines administered internationally that have been approved by the World Health Organization. WHO guidelines are followed to authenticate these documents.