Jurisdictions around the globe are now phasing in new Covid-19 Vaccine IDs, and restaurateurs are facing what they fear will be an army of hostile customers – who either don’t have such IDs, or try to get into eateries using fake papers. There are consequences for diners and restos alike…
Do you know this man? Police in BC are seeking him in connection with an
incident in which an irate customer urinated on a Port Albernie Dairy
Queen’s counter when told he had to wear a mask to get service.
The province of British Columbia’s COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate comes into effect September 13, and restaurant operators are concerned they’ll soon have to deal with a tsunami of hostile customers. That’s because the mandate requires patrons to present valid proof that they’ve received at least a first dose of a vaccine before they can dine at a sit-down restaurant, attend ticketed sporting events, go to the cinema or take part in other specified activities. Starting October 24, BC residents will have to show proof that they’ve received both of their vaccine doses.
Angry mobs gathered outside a number of BC hospitals earlier this week to protest what they call an infringement of their ‘health freedom’ rights. Another large demonstration took place at Vancouver City Hall.
“We’re starting to see the agitated and the minority trying to start to pick some fights. […] We are wanting to be cautious,” BC Restaurant and Food Services Association spokesman Ian Tostenson told CTV News. The Association has asked the provincial government for financial assistance in hiring security guards to help enforce the vaccine mandate and head off violence.
And the hostility has already started to surface. Last week, a customer at a Port Albernie, BC, Dairy Queen urinated on the counter in protest after he was denied service because he wasn’t wearing a mask, per existing store protocols.
“It really raised the issue that between the door and the counter, there’s really nothing to filter an angry customer coming in,” Tostenson said.
Resto operators are so upset about the potential for customer violence that some are considering closing their sit-down dining rooms so their employees are not put at risk. But sit-down, eat-in dining currently accounts for as much as 50 percent of fast food sales. Most operators can’t afford to close their dining rooms.
“It could cost that restaurant $80,000 in sales in a month because the dining room still represents about 50 per cent of their sales,” Tostenson estimates. “Do they have any room in their budget to pay for it? Probably not. They make small margins.”
Another dimension to the problem
Resto operators and others are also bracing for a flood of counterfeit vaccine documents. New York prosecutors have charged a pair of NYC women with producing and selling fake vaccine cards. Not only that, but one of them has also been charged with hacking the state vaccine database and adding the names of those who bought the fake cards. AND 13 hospital, nursing home, medical school and nursing school workers have been with possession of a fake card allegedly purchased from the counterfeiters.
An Illinois woman, 24-year-old Chloe Mrozak, 24, was charged with falsifying vaccine documents and providing false information after she allegedly presented a counterfeit vaccination card at the airport in Hawaii. She was apparently trying to avoid the current state-mandated 10-day quarantine for non-vaccinated travellers entering the state. How did they nab her? Her vaccination card looked legit – except that the name of the vaccine she claimed to have received was spelled ‘Maderna’. Oops.
Counterfeiting is big business
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents say they seized bundles of fake vaccination certificates at the Memphis international air freight terminal this past week. Agents confiscated 121 packets containing a total of more than 3,000 fake vaccine certificate blanks. If they had gone into circulation, they would have been easy to spot. The documents contained multiple errors including misspellings, unfinished words and incorrect Spanish translations.
The fake certificates came from – guess where? – China. And they were addressed to recipients all over the U.S.
“These vaccinations are free and available everywhere,” said Michael Neipert, CBP Area Port Director of Memphis. “If you do not wish to receive a vaccine, that is your decision. But don’t order a counterfeit, waste my officer’s time, break the law, and misrepresent yourself. CBP Officers at the Area Port of Memphis remain committed to stopping counterfeit smuggling and helping to protect our communities. But just know that when you order a fake vaxx card, you are using [wasting] my officers’ time as they also seize fentanyl and methamphetamines.”
U.S. officials remind Americans that making, selling or presenting fake vaccination records is a federal crime. And that brings pretty severe consequences.
Penalties can mount up to $250,000 and 20 years’ imprisonment for each infraction, and when mail or wire fraud take place, miscreants could face up to 60 years in prison and up to $750,000 in fines. More commonly, though, the FBI warns making or buying fake documents that use a federal government agency seal without authorization can result in prison time and fines of up to $500.
So: Do you think BC restaurateurs are justified?
Or are they just panicking over the possibility that they’ll have to deal with an army of anti-vaxxers trying to crash their establishments after September 13?
Muse on that…
~ Maggie J.