Uganda’s authorities face the sale of COVID-19 vaccination cards and negative test results. Such a forging of the medical tests made the interior ministry intervene to stop the illegal commercial activity.
In Uganda, any vaccination document without undergoing testing or vaccination is available for the money, said Jerome Ochan, a criminal investigations department officer. The scandal sparked after the local authorities reported the issue related to managing the COVID-19 crisis in the poor African nation.
Over the weeks, the COVID-19 vaccination cards and test cards are being sold by some medical workers to people especially those going overseas. Those mostly buying the documents without undergoing testing or vaccination are the young women aspiring to go and work as housemaids in the Persian Gulf countries.
The State House Health Monitoring Unit (SHHMU) got concerned when they heard of many women who left Uganda with documents indicating they were tested and vaccinated against COVID-19 before going to Arab Penisula and later were found to be positive when tested on arrival. As statistics say, in the past three months, they have detected over 100 women who left to work in Saudi Arabia with fake negative test results or vaccination cards.
The head of the SHHMU, Dr Warren Namara, confirmed that Unit operatives shamelessly filled the cards and stamped them and gave them to our operative. He expressed disappointment by such acts, adding that is the greatest sabotage in the government’s effort to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.
In his interview, Health Ministry spokesman Emmanuel Ainebyona said that some of those involved in the scandal have been arrested and will soon be taken to the court over charges of fraud and other related cases.
