An increased number of forged vaccination certificates began to appear in the summer of 2021. The Paul-Ehrlich-Institut was able to detect the forgeries using new software solutions.
Increasing numbers of forged vaccination certificates began popping up in Germany around mid-2021. As a precaution, the previously publicly accessible federal medicinal product database (Medicinal Products Information System, AMIce) was then blocked from the public. In addition to the information on batch data, other forgery features included falsified doctor and vaccination centre stamps, forged signatures, and implausible information on the vaccination date. Up to 200 inquiries from pharmacies and police departments about potentially forged vaccination documents were being submitted to the Paul-Ehrlich-Institut daily near the end of 2021.
In order to detect forgeries of vaccination certificates, the Paul-Ehrlich-Institut worked closely and effectively with the Federal Police, the state police authorities and the Federal Criminal Police Office at the request of the authorities investigating this issue. With the help of software from the Federal Police and batch data provided by the Paul-Ehrlich-Institut, investigating officers were able to access batch data directly and compare it with the information on potentially forged vaccination certificates.
In cooperation with the Federal Union of German Associations of Pharmacists (Bundesvereinigung Deutscher Apothekerverbände, ABDA), the Paul-Ehrlich-Institut also developed a software solution for public pharmacies in 2021 to reliably detect and verify forged vaccination certificates directly at the pharmacy counter. This software includes a batch information search function. The batch data needed for this function was and is updated weekly by the Paul-Ehrlich-Institut.
Comparable software solutions were also created for medical practices by the vaccine manufacturers in cooperation with the Paul-Ehrlich-Institut and made available via the secure part of the DocCheck portal. Doctors and vaccination centres were also able to check vaccination certificates for their authenticity using the software.
Vaccination certificates provide information about an individual's current vaccination status and help to close vaccination gaps in the population. Falsification of vaccination certificates adversely affects public health and may lead to incorrect medical decisions if a person is infected and has not actually received vaccination protection. Forgery of vaccination certificates and the use of a forged certificate is punishable as forgery of documents in accordance with Sections 267 et seq. of the German Criminal Code (Strafgesetzbuch, StGB) or the criminal provisions of the Infection Protection Act (Infektionsschutzgesetz).