Columbia, SC rehab nurse will seek trial over alleged forged COVID vaccination cards

A Columbia registered nurse will go to trial in July in federal court on charges she falsified COVID-19 vaccination cards.

Tammy McDonald had intended to plead guilty, according to a court filing earlier this week. But, on Wednesday in federal court, her lawyer told U.S. Judge Terry Wooten she wants to go to trial.

“At this point, the case is for trial,” said defense attorney Jim Griffin.

Wooten, who called the case “a serious matter,” set trial to begin at 9:30 a.m. July 12 at the federal courthouse in downtown Columbia. Jury selection is scheduled for July 11.

Griffin said he plans to submit a pretrial brief that questions whether the government’s indictment is fatally flawed since it alleges that COVID-19 vaccination cards are legitimate identification cards covered by federal law, and McDonald is charged with making a “false identification document” that appears to be a legitimate COVID-19 vaccination card.

“That is a significant issue for the defendant: is a COVID card an identification card?” Griffin told Wooten.

McDonald, who was in court but did not speak at Wednesday’s hearing, was indicted by the federal grand jury on Nov. 23.

The indictment said she was the director of nursing services at a skilled nursing and rehabilitation center in Columbia, but it did not identify the facility.

The indictment also charges that McDonald lied when confronted by FBI and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services agents who investigated the case.

At an earlier hearing, Griffin told a magistrate judge that McDonald only made one or two false vaccination cards to help a family member at the University of South Carolina who has “anti-vaccination beliefs.” She received no pay, Griffin said.

McDonald, so far, appears to be the first person in South Carolina to face federal criminal charges of producing bogus COVID-19 vaccination cards.

McDonald faces a prison term of up to five years if found guilty.

The COVID-19 vaccination cards were issued under a March 2020 law that proclaimed the disease a national emergency.

At the time, there were no vaccines and few people had died in the U.S. Since then, more than a million people nationwide have died because of COVID-19, and vaccines developed in late 2020 are credited with helping to prevent more deaths and hospitalizations.

Vaccination providers are required to give anyone getting a COVID-10 shot a card showing the patient’s name and date of birth, what kind of vaccine it is, the date of the shot and the location where the shot was given.

So far 2.9 million South Carolinians, or 58 % of the state’s population, are fully vaccinated, according to Johns Hopkins University. In the U.S, 221 million or 67% of the population are fully vaccinated.

This story was originally published May 26, 2022 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Columbia, SC rehab nurse will seek trial over alleged forged COVID vaccination cards."