A 24-year-old woman is currently being held in a correctional center in Hawaii after being arrested and charged on suspicion of submitting a fake CDC vaccination card in order to avoid Hawaii’s 10-day quarantine for travelers.
Chloe Mrozak was nabbed by cops as she attempted to leave Hawaii on Saturday after arriving in Honolulu on August 23 following an investigation by the Department of the Attorney General and Hawaii’s Quarantine Compliance Check team.
Mrozak’s alleged deceit was unearthed after an eye-popping spelling error on her forged CDC vaccination card. The card claimed Mrozak had been vaccinated with the ‘Maderna’ vaccine rather than the correctly spelt ‘Moderna’ vaccine.
Nearly all out of state travelers to Hawaii are expected to quarantine for 10-days to reduce the spread of COVID-19 unless they can produce evidence of an exemption. The most widely used exemption is evidence of full vaccination and the state of Hawaii only accepts the official CDC card as proof despite the fact the paper slip is easily forged.
Travelers must upload a copy of their vaccination card, along with additional information like return flight reservations and hotel accommodation via Hawaii’s Safe Travels website prior to visiting the state. Additional screening also takes place after arrival.
According to the attorney general, investigators contacted the hotel Mrozak claimed to be staying at and discovered she had never made a reservation. Mrozak also failed to provide details of her return flight.
The fake vaccination card claimed Mrozak had received both doses of the ‘Maderna’ vaccine in Delaware but after contacting local officials, it was determined that Mrozak hadn’t been vaccinated in Delaware at all.
Officers from the Quarantine Compliance Check team descended on Southwest Airlines’ check-in area at the airport to hunt for Mrozak and tracked her down by looking for a distinctive tattoo on her hip that they had noticed after trawling through her Facebook profile.
She was arrested and charged with providing falsified vaccination documents and was unable to post bail.
Despite being open to tourism, Hawaii’s governor David Ige made headlines last week when he urged tourists to stay away from the state.
“They would have a much, much better experience,” Ige said of tourists who he hopes will heed his message. “It is a risky time to be traveling right now,” he continued, fearing that Hawaii’s healthcare system was struggling to cope with the extra pressure that the delta variant has placed on it in recent weeks.
Hey all you 20-somethings – see this? Correct spelling actually DOES matter! 🙂