“We make crimes unnecessarily easy,” says the person responsible for certificates for a canton in eastern Switzerland. Far too many people would have full access to federal software and freely issue all kinds of certificates. That is a free pass for fraudsters. In fact, unvaccinated people can buy real vaccination certificates on the black market – at a price of up to CHF 500. There are cases in almost all cantons. The largest so far concerns St. Gallen: According to media reports, fraudsters there are said to have issued no fewer than 6,000 fraudulent certificates.
Bund did not act
The SRF “Rundschau” spoke to those responsible from six cantons. They have been demanding security measures from the federal government for months. The top Swiss canton doctor confirms the research: “Shortly after the introduction of the certificate at the beginning of June, we came to the federal government,” says Rudolf Hauri, President of the Association of Cantonal Doctors VKS. It is a security problem if, for example, employees of a test center can also issue vaccination or recovery certificates. Employees in vaccination or test centers, general practitioners, laboratory workers or pharmacists: a total of several thousand people in Switzerland can access the certificate software and issue certificates. The cantons demand that the federal government limit their authorizations according to their task.
The federal offices for informatics BIT and health BAG are responsible. In the “Rundschau” interview, BAG section head Patrick Mathys admits: “We may have neglected this question.” Those in charge were busy with ongoing changes to the certificate. But Mathys promises: “We’re going to take a very close look at this now.”
Cantons flying blind
The cantons complain about another security gap that is serious for them: They can hardly check for themselves when and how often, for example, an employee of a test center issues vaccination certificates – for example for random checks or in the event of a suspected case. «So cheating is not very difficult. The problem can be solved from a technical point of view, ”criticizes Rudolf Hauri, a canton doctor representative. They have been talking about this with the federal authorities for six months: “Nothing has changed so far. We expect the federal government to address this now. Of course we would have liked it faster. ”
BAG representative Patrick Mathys promises adjustments. Specifically, the cantons should have a more simple and comprehensive insight into the activities of the certificate issuers. “However, data protection could mean that this is not possible to the extent that the cantons would like,” he says. He also makes no promises when it comes to speed. The changes would take time. However, the federal government is very active and has continuously taken other security precautions.