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'Maderna'? American woman caught after she uploads fake vaccine certificate with spelling error

WION Web Team
Honolulu, HawaiiUpdated: Sep 02, 2021, 01:08 PM IST
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In this file photo, vials of Moderna Covid-19 vaccine can be seen Photograph:(AFP)

Story highlights

Hawaii has imposed a 10-day quarantine rule for all incoming travellers to ensure the coronavirus pandemic’s spread stays under control. To bypass the same and be able to spend more time outdoors, the Illinois woman uploaded a fake vaccination card

The coronavirus pandemic has taken a toll on people all around the world. Some people are ready to go to lengths to be able to vacation once again, and a woman from Illinois took it to a whole another level.

A 24-year-old woman decided to submit a fake COVID-19 vaccination certificate to be able to vacation in Hawaii. However, a spelling error landed her in court.

Hawaii has imposed a 10-day quarantine rule for all incoming travellers to ensure the coronavirus pandemic’s spread stays under control. To bypass the same and be able to spend more time outdoors, the Illinois woman uploaded a fake vaccination card to the state’s Safe Travels programme.

However, when she arrived in Honolulu, the officers suspected some mischief. The first thing they noticed was that the spelling mistake in the vaccine name. 'Moderna' vaccine was misspelled as 'Maderna'.

"Airport screeners found suspicious errors ... such as Moderna was spelled wrong and that her home was in Illinois but her shot was taken at Delaware," Wilson Lau, a special agent with the Hawaii attorney general's investigation division, wrote in an email to a Delaware official.

Upon further investigation, Delaware officials confirmed that there were no government vaccination records for the woman by her name of her birth details.

In addition to this, she had also claimed on paper that she was staying at the Waikiki Holiday Inn but had failed to produce reservation number. The authorities at the inn confirmed that there was no reservation under her name.

She was then charged with misdemeanor counts for violating Hawaii’s emergency rules amid pandemic. She was kept in custody for some time and later released on a $2,000 bail. Her next court hearing is scheduled for next Wednesday.