Anti-COVID-19 vaccination process: from apparent identity theft to few securities in inoculation cards

Mathias Calderon He has wanted get vaccinated against COVID-19, but to date it has not been able to do so.

The strange thing is that was supposedly inoculated on July 17, 2021, with the dose of the Sinovac vaccine. In an invoice from a commercial premises it appeared that he had agreed to the immunization.

He went to an immunization point in Quito, but could not be inoculated, because in the system it appeared as if the vaccine was already administered.

first made a online procedure; however there was never an answer. He then presented a written request; no answer came either.

“And now they tell me that (…) my case has gone to an instance as well as from the national offices of the Ministry of Public Health because this is more or less about identity theft or forgery of documents and they have to know who exactly entered that information and where and when,” he said.

Your question is until the process is complete: when can you get vaccinated?

This newspaper informed the Ministry of Public Health of the fact and requested information in this regard.

This anomalous event is not the only one that has occurred in the vaccination process against COVID-19, that has been implemented in two governments in Ecuador; It started in January 2021.

In the administration of Lenin Moreno there was apparently a privileged group who agreed to the doses of the vaccine before the time that had been established.

In the administration of William Lasso, although there has been greater agility in the inoculation, there complaints about the vulnerability of the vaccination card, which is delivered after receiving the doses.

For a person over 50 years old, who went to receive the third dose, the card they gave him is nothing more than a copy of a simple sheet that they cut out like a card. In his opinion, it is easily falsifiable, since there are no codes or stamps.

In some booster dose vaccination cards there are a local stamp in which people received the vaccine; In the previous doses, the document on a cardboard type paper, thicker and stronger.

On the back it reads that the vaccination is voluntary and free and there are the social media addresses of the Ministry of Public Health.

For $20 and $30, so-called anti-COVID-19 vaccination cards and certificates are offered on social networks; It is a crime and is punishable by 5 to 8 years in prison.

That State portfolio indicated that it will make an appeal to the Municipality of Quito so that it does not require vaccination card against physical COVID-19 but digital, which has a QR code, that cannot be faked.

According to Minister of Health, Ximena Garzón, It is the best way to avoid complaints regarding the sale of false vaccination cards.

He argued that with this code, citizens can download information from the Web page of that State portfolio.

He announced that from next monday january 31 there will be a smaller version of the document that will be easier to carry on your mobile phone or to print.

“The moment you log in from any cell phone, the cell phone can read that code and all the information is displayed that is stored in the Ministry of Public Health,” he said.

The digital vaccination certificate It has a QR code to the right of the first and last name of the vaccinated person. In addition, the date of issue, first and second dose dates and which country issues it.

Ministry of Health of Ecuador declares mandatory vaccination against COVID-19

The vaccination documents are requested to be able to enter some malls, restaurants, supermarkets or use the public transport. This once the Government decreed -last December- that vaccination against COVID is mandatory.

Through social networks, the State Attorney General’s Office asked citizens report if you know someone who uses a false vaccination card or tests to detect COVID-19, or who has falsified one of these documents.

The prosecution also requested do not buy vaccination cards and recalled that the use of a false document or the falsification of a document is a crime typified in the Organic Comprehensive Criminal Code and punishable by a custodial sentence of 5 to 7 years.

In last december, the MSP filed a complaint with the State Attorney General’s Office for alleged falsification and use of false documents, which are related to vaccination cards or certificates against COVID-19.

The institution reported that there four suspicious people to use and facilitate its delivery. (I)