Vax card fraud a betrayal of trust

The alleged scheme by a local nurse practitioner and a licensed practical nurse to forge numerous vaccination records would be illegal, dangerous to the health of the region's residents and an unconscionable violation of their obligations as health care professionals.

Two pediatric nurses, Julie DeVuono, the owner of Wild Child Pediatric Healthcare in Amityville, and employee Marissa Urraro, were charged last week by Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney with turning the pandemic into a profit-making venture by selling the fake COVID-19 vaccination cards and entering false information that their patrons had gotten their shots into the state's database.

According to the criminal complaint, DeVuono, a nurse practitioner, and Urraro, a licensed practical nurse, were charged with forgery. It's alleged they charged $220 for adults and $85 for children to provide the fake cards and enter the false data into the New York State Immunization Information System. The stunning scheme allegedly netted the pair upward of $1.5 million. Receptionist Brooke Hogan was later charged, too.

Making the situation even more troubling, published reports said DeVuono's husband is a New York Police Department officer now under investigation to determine whether he sent people who wanted fake cards to his wife. If city police officers — who are required to be vaccinated against the virus — falsified their records, that's a massive violation of the public trust.

Wild Child Pediatric Healthcare apparently had been involved long before the pandemic with efforts to tutor parents on how to avoid routine vaccinations required for their children to attend school. Wild Child advertised vaccine exemption workshops and posted about how it refused to offer the traditional flu vaccine on social media.

There's still a lot we don't know, from how many people had their records falsified, who they are and how they used the cards, to whether DeVuono and Urraro were in possession of the vaccine doses they purported to give and, if so, what happened to those vials.

It's promising that the arrests came out of a cooperative effort by county, state and federal officials. And under the state's new Truth in Vaccination law, it's not just DeVuono, Urraro and Hogan who allegedly broke the law; everyone who possessed a fake card or a state online passport violated the law, too. The professional licenses of the nurses could be at risk, as well as the jobs of those who offered the fake cards as proof of vaccination.

This case is not the only example of a willingness to fake COVID-19 vaccine records and it speaks to the possibility that it could happen with other vaccinations, too. Federal, state and local officials should examine ways to improve record-keeping. For example: Could the state's database flag unusual vaccination activity by a single provider?

There are Long Island residents who've chosen not to get the COVID-19 shot. Despite the importance of vaccination, that's their right.

But falsely claiming they got the shot is not.

You can report vaccine-related fraud by calling 833-VAXSCAM (833-829-7226) or emailing STOPVAXFRAUD@health.ny.gov.