Alina Kalinskova has talked with Novy Prospert about the market for counterfeit COVID-19 vaccination certificates
A market for fake certificates confirming that its holder has received two doses of Sputnik V is forming in St Petersburg. In addition, offers are appearing to enter non-existent COVID-19 vaccination data into Public Services Portal (a part of the infrastructure which provides data exchange and technological interaction of information systems used for rendering state and municipal services in electronic form) which is unacceptable from a legal point of view.
“Companies often request an account and password fromPublic Services Portal and subsequently use the stolen personal data for their own purposes,” Alina Kalinskova, a lawyer at Maxima Legal, told Novy Prospect online edition.
The expert also explained that sellers of fake documents face an administrative fine of 30-50 thousand rubles, or up to 100 thousand rubles in case of repeated violation, and the buyers – forced labor for up to 1 year or imprisonment for a similar period. However, if the medical document did not give a citizen any rights or relieve him of his duties, the responsibility will be lower: a fine of up to 80 thousand rubles, or in the amount of the salary for a period of up to six months. “There may also be compulsory labour for up to 480 hours, or correctional labour for up to 2 years, or arrest for up to 6 months,” Alina added.
It should be noted that vaccination is voluntary, so the market for buying and selling fictitious vaccination certificates is formed solely against the background of citizens’ legal illiteracy.
As Alina Kalinskova explained, an employer may get a warning or a 30-50 thousand ruble administrative fine for disqualifying a person from work or forcing a person to vaccinate. At the same time, the lawyer reminded that preventive vaccinations, including against COVID-19, are mandatory only for citizens whose work is associated with a high risk of infectious diseases. “If they do not do the approved preventive vaccinations, the employer has the right to suspend the employee from work,” the expert commented, noting that even employees from special fields have the right to refuse vaccination in the absence of a complicated epidemiological situation and in this case they cannot be suspended. “And at the moment, the epidemiological situation has not been officially recognised as complicated,” Alina stressed.
To read the full article (in Russian), please see Novy Prospect website >>>