Canterbury man accused of making fake vaccine passes

Police have swooped on a Canterbury man who has allegedly been making fake vaccine passes.

Officers this morning raided a small business, which operates out of a shed at the rear of the property.

This morning, a police spokeswoman told the Herald that a 61-year-old man has been taken into custody "and is assisting with inquiries".

He has now been charged with two counts of forgery and will appear at Christchurch District Court on February 1.

The man allegedly told a Stuff reporter, who was given a fake vaccine pass, that he was doing it so people could "see their loved ones".

A North Canterbury doctor was last month caught on camera issuing fake vaccine exemptions to patients.

Dr Jonie Girouard, who runs a weight loss clinic in Kaiapoi, is an unvaccinated GP who was captured by Newshub issuing fake certificates and coaching patients on how to get away with using them.

The Ministry of Health confirmed this month it had issued a $300 infringement notice to Girouard after finding she had breached the Covid-19 Public Health Response (Vaccination) Order 2021 by seeing patients in person without being vaccinated and without a valid exemption.