COVIDIOTS

Anti-Vax Instagrammer Charged in Fake COVID-19 Vax Card Scheme

Thirteen frontline or essential workers who bought cards were also charged.

A woman who goes by @AntiVaxMomma on Instagram was charged Tuesday with selling fake COVID-19 vaccination cards, the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office said. Self-described online entrepreneur Jasmine Clifford, 31, sold 250 cards for $200 each, according to the D.A. For a bonus fee of $250, customers could have their names entered into the New York State Immunization Information System, which supplies data to the Excelsior Pass, New Yorkers’ digital vaccine card. Clifford and Nadayza Barkley, a medical clinic worker in Patchogue, allegedly conspired together to sell the fake cards. Thirteen frontline or essential workers who bought cards were also charged. Some apparently work in hospitals and nursing homes, according to District Attorney Cy Vance.

“We will continue to safeguard public health in New York with proactive investigations like these, but the stakes are too high to tackle fake vaccination cards with whack-a-mole prosecutions,” Vance said.