Covid 19 outbreak: Canterbury police ask anyone with fake vaccine pass to come forward

Canterbury police are encouraging anyone possessing a fake Covid vaccine pass to hand it in after a Rangiora man was arrested in relation to the production of fake passes.

Earlier today, a 61-year-old was charged with forgery and will appear at Christchurch District Court on February 1.

Detective Sergeant Daniel Isherwood said a number of people in the wider Christchurch area have been identified as having received a fraudulent My Vaccine Pass.

"Police will be working through this list and those who are currently in possession of such a document are strongly encouraged to surrender it to the Rangiora Police Station."

There will be an amnesty for these individuals until 4pm on February 1.

Police said in this case, printed passes were produced and distributed, although the QR code on the pass either did not scan correctly or came up as a location instead of an individual's identity.

"Several devices have been seized by police and inquiries are ongoing," a spokesperson said.

Police said if a pass fails to scan and the business is not satisfied with the identity of the individual, entry should be refused.

"This is a timely reminder to ensure that all passes, either electronic or physical, are correctly scanned and checked," Isherwood said.

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 (Vaccinations) Order 2021 by seeing patients in person without being vaccinated and without a valid exemption.