The New York City Department of Education suspended roughly 70 employees for allegedly using fake COVID-19 vaccination cards, the teachers’ union announced on Friday (April 22).
The department placed the employees on unpaid leave with benefits, effective Monday (April 25), and the Special Commissioner of Investigation for the New York City School District and law enforcement agencies are investigating the incident.
“Fraudulent vaccination cards are not only illegal, they also undermine the best line of protection our schools have against Covid-19—universal adult vaccination,” said Nathaniel Styer, a spokesperson for the DOE.
It wasn’t immediately clear how the department discovered the alleged fake cards.