Top Columbia, SC rehab center nurse indicted for faking COVID vaccination cards

A top nurse at a Columbia skilled nursing and rehabilitation center has been indicted on federal charges of creating false COVID-19 vaccination cards.

Tammy McDonald, 53, a registered nurse and director of nursing at the rehabilitation center, also lied to agents with the FBI and U.S. Health and Human Services Department when confronted about the false cards, an indictment in the case said. The rehabilitation center was not identified in the indictment, which was unsealed and made public Thursday morning.

McDonald, a longtime Columbia resident, was indicted by the federal grand jury on Nov. 23.

Her attorney Jim Griffin told a magistrate judge Thursday that McDonald only made one or two false vaccination cards to help a family member at the University of South Carolina. Griffin said that, ironically, the family member has “anti-vaccination beliefs,” and McDonald — who is vaccinated — provided the family member with the false card to help them out.

Griffin said McDonald received no pay for creating the cards.

McDonald is apparently the first person in South Carolina to face federal criminal charges of producing phony COVID-19 vaccination cards. In recent months, federal and state officials have issued warnings about the possibility of counterfeit cards.

McDonald, wearing a dark gray jail jump suit and in handcuffs, was arraigned Thursday morning at the downtown Columbia federal courthouse before U.S. Magistrate Judge Shiva Hodges.

McDonald, who pleaded not guilty, was issued a secured bond of $10,000. Assistant U.S. Attorney Mike O’Mara had asked for a $25,000 bond.

“She is not a flight risk, she is not a danger to the community,” Griffin told the judge. Griffin added that McDonald is a graduate of the University of South Carolina School of Nursing.

Hodges ordered that if McDonald goes back to work as a nurse, her employers should be told of the charges against her and she should be kept away from the vaccination process.

“She is a very qualified and competent registered nurse,” said Griffin, adding McDonald works as a traveling nurse and earns up to $85 an hour.

Creating false vaccination record cards that look exactly like the ones authorized by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is a federal crime, as is lying to federal agents, the indictment said.

Lying to a federal agent carries a five-year maximum prison sentence. Making a fraudulent government-issued vaccine card carries a maximum 15-year sentence. However, McDonald has no criminal record, and she is likely to get probation or only a light prison sentence if ultimately found guilty.

Vaccination cards contain the name of the person receiving the vaccine, the patient’s date of birth, the name of the kind of vaccine, the date the patient received it, the dose numbers and the location where the shot was given.

The indictment did not say whether McDonald used real identification cards and filled in other peoples’ names and other data, or whether she actually created a counterfeit document. Neither did the indictment say to what use the phony cards were put or who got the cards she produced. Cards identify someone as having had the vaccine. Some businesses, governments and various groups require proof of vaccination for employees.

Most people who contract COVID-19 are unvaccinated, according to the CDC.

People who are vaccinated can still get infected, but they are “are less likely than unvaccinated people to be hospitalized or die,” the CDC has found.

The indictment unsealed Thursday notes that in early 2020, former President Donald Trump and the federal health department declared a national public health emergency over COVID-19, and the government authorized various pharmaceutical companies to begin trying to make an effective vaccine.

By December of last year, the Food and Drug Administration began authorizing vaccines for emergency use. The government also authorized official vaccination record cards according to CDC-authorized specifications.

Thursday afternoon, the U.S. Attorney’s office in Columbia issued a press release quoting leading federal law officers about the case.

“Although the indictment speaks for itself, creating fraudulent or fake vaccine cards for those who have not been vaccinated poses a direct threat to the health of the people of South Carolina,” said Acting U.S. Attorney DeHart.

Susan Ferensic, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Columbia Field Office, said, “Producing fraudulent vaccination cards is a serious matter and is not taken lightly. Anyone leading or participating in this type of activity should know there will be consequences.”

HHS Office of Inspector General Special Agent in Charge Derrick Jackson said that creating and distributing fake vaccination cards harms everyone. “Engaging in such illegal activities undermines the ongoing pandemic response efforts..”

Assistant U.S,. Attorney Derek Shoemake will be the lead prosecutor on the case.

This story was originally published December 2, 2021 at 10:52 AM with the headline "Top Columbia, SC rehab center nurse indicted for faking COVID vaccination cards."