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Potential COVID-19 vaccine card 'loophole' circulating online

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VANCOUVER -

A possible loophole in B.C.’s vaccine card registration system is making the rounds on social media.

CTV News has obtained electronic documents that appear to provide a step-by-step tutorial on how to obtain a vaccine card without actually being vaccinated against COVID-19.

The three-page instruction manual suggests entering false information about how many doses of vaccine you’ve been administered, and where you got your shots. It also directs users to ignore entering any information in the registration process that is deemed optional, and fabricate contact information to avoid hearing from government officials.

“Don’t pick up the phone if they call you, or just fake one digit of your number.”

According to the document, if all the steps are followed, the user will be granted an official B.C. vaccine card, complete with an operational QR code. The instructions, however, come with a warning:

“If anything does happen, make sure you can corroborate what your card says”

Dominic Vogel, founder and chief strategist of Cyber SC has worked with the province on various cybersecurity issues. He’s not surprised users have found an apparent loophole.

“There’s always going to be a workaround,” he says. “You can’t make it 100 per cent foolproof.”

Given how quickly the online vaccine card registration rolled out, Vogel does not blame the provincial government for any potential shortcomings of the website. He says the site would have gone through rigorous technical inspection and testing.

“This type of loophole here is what’s referred to as workflow logic that’s being exposed. You can’t really run that through all possible simulations.”

It’s unclear how many people have successfully received a vaccine card using the workaround. CTV News has reached out to the Ministry of Health and Solicitor General for information on potential penalties for those who falsify vaccination details.

Given recent protests in Metro Vancouver, decrying vaccine passports and COVID-19 restrictions, Vogel suggests there’s a sizeable proportion of people who would be interested in acquiring a vaccine card in dishonest ways. Assuming the loophole works, he says it’s imperative the province shuts it down immediately.

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