COVID-19 Vaccine Passport Scam

Scammers used anything from false masks to COVID-19 scholarships to funeral money to lure victims. They're now concentrating on vaccine passports.

The majority of these ruses are designed to appear to be from the US government. Sylvia, a grandma who fell for the con, received a call saying that now that she'd been vaccinated, she needed to take an online COVID-19 test to ensure the vaccine was functioning before she could acquire a vaccine passport.

"For the first time in more than a year, we're planning a cross-country trip to see our grandchildren," Sylvia remarked. "As a result, I wanted to double-check that we're doing everything we need to do in order to travel."

Sylvia was told that the test would cost her $25 by the con artist. As a result, she provided the fraudster with her bank account number in order to pay for two tests for herself and her husband. The scammer got $500 out of the account instead of $50. When Sylvia reported the event, the bank closed her account.

Texts or emails with links to a testing website, as well as phishing for personal and financial information, are examples of other versions.

It's vital to remember that there is no requirement for post-vaccination testing. There are no online tests available without a sample, and no vaccine passports are necessary. So ignore any unsolicited emails or texts about COVID-19 testing, and hang up on anyone phoning about it.

How to spot a COVID-19 scam:

• Government agencies usually don't communicate through text messages
• Go to the agency's website yourself, without clicking on a link, to verify any information you receive via text or email.
• Ignore instructions to text "STOP" or "NO" to prevent future texts, and don't hit unsubscribe to stop emails. That is a common ploy by scammers to confirm they have an actual, active number.
• Also, check for look-alikes

Be sure to do research and see if a government agency or organization mentioned in a text or email exists. Find contact information and call to see if what you've been told is legitimate.

Women Having Menstrual Issues From COVID Vaccine

Our survey was approved and made it through production! VACCINATED MENSTRUATORS ASSEMBLE:https://t.co/YY1eolCnWi

(This is a project to explore whether the covid vaxes affect the periods - if you have menstruated before and got the vax, take 15 min to tell us your experiences!)

— Dr. Kate Clancy 🏳️‍🌈 (@KateClancy) April 7, 2021

This research study is about your experiences with your period or other menstrual bleeding (such as "spotting") and associated symptoms after receiving at least one dose of a vaccine for COVID-19. Side effects are a common and even important element of the vaccine response, and bleeding patterns can be an important way to understand how our immune systems are activated.

Could the COVID-19 vaccines impact menstruation? Experts discuss

The experts hope that understanding this side effect will help people to be better prepared for heavier or earlier menstrual flow after their doses.

After Katharine Lee received her COVID-19 vaccine, she and a colleague chatted about their side effects. Because they worked in a medical school, they received their shots early and felt this might be a good opportunity to understand the experience.

While they expected injection site pain and to maybe spike a fever, they both noticed a symptom that they had not expected: their menstrual cycles changed. As Lee began talking with other people who menstruated, she heard that they also experienced periods that came earlier, felt heavier or just seemed abnormal.

“The menstrual cycle is a really flexible and dynamic process and it responds to a lot of different things in life like stress, physical or mental or immune changes,” Lee, the post-doctoral scholar in the public health sciences division at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, told TODAY. “The menstrual cycle is supposed to respond and adapt.”

Lee informally talked to colleagues and friends about their periods and some observed differences.

“A number of people said they noticed their cycles were just a little weird,” she explained. “But attributed it to maybe the vaccine or maybe it was perimenopause.”

She reached out to her grad school professor, Kathryn Clancy, head of the Clancy Lab at the University of Illinois, which focuses on women's health research. Lee mentioned the irregular cycles and Clancy was interested. Then she received her first dose.

“A little after a week after this first Moderna dose and I had never had a period that was so heavy — not even in my 20s when I was having a really heavy cycle,” Clancy said.

Clancy shared her experience on Twitter and people responded with their own stories. Lee and Clancy realized they needed to gather this information in a standardized way. So, they worked on a survey to do just that.

“A lot of people had noticed something but hadn't heard anything about (menstrual changes) being a side effect,” Lee said. “So many things could impact people's menstrual experiences. So, we just thought if this is a side effect of … this type of vaccine it would be good for people to be prepared.”

Both researchers note that they are pro-vaccine and they’re conducting the research to understand the full range of side effects.

“We need to do more work noticing when there are different effects for different people, really, so that we can do a better job of (preparing for) these side effects," Clancy explained. "If people know, for instance, this is going to make you bleed more they're going to have more pads with them.”

CDC Says Heart Inflammation Higher Than Expected From Vaccine

According to a CDC presentation, cases of myocarditis or pericarditis, which are inflammatory diseases involving the heart, have been reported in patients aged 16 to 24 as of May 31.

The CDC reported Thursday that after getting their second dose of Pfizer's or Moderna's Covid-19 vaccinations, there has been a higher-than-expected number of cases of heart inflammation in 16- to 24-year-olds, according to preliminary data from its vaccine safety monitor system.

As of May 31, the CDC had received reports of 275 cases in that age bracket, according to a presentation prepared for an FDA advisory panel meeting on Thursday. According to the CDC, scientists estimated between 10 and 102 cases of myocarditis or pericarditis, which occurs when the heart muscle or the membrane surrounding it becomes inflamed.

Dr. Tom Shimabukuro of the CDC's Immunization Safety Office said Thursday at a meeting of the FDA's Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee to discuss safety issues surrounding the use of Covid-19 vaccines in children as young as 6 months old, "We clearly have an imbalance there."

Though rare, there have been a total of 475 reported cases of myocarditis or pericarditis in people age 30 and younger, according to the CDC. Most patients who were hospitalized, or 81% of them, had full recovery from their symptoms, the agency said. As of May 31, 15 people remain hospitalized, with three in intensive care.

The majority of cases appear to occur in men and the median time to the onset of symptoms is two to three days, according to the CDC.

Some of the reported cases may be something else other than myocarditis or pericarditis upon further investigation, Shimabukuro said.

During a panel discussion later Thursday, Dr. Cody Meissner, a member of the committee, said he was “worried” about the heart issue reported in young vaccine recipients. He questioned whether there will be scarring of the muscular tissue or arrhythmia as a result of the condition.

“I think that’s unlikely but we don’t know that,” said Meissner, also a professor of pediatrics at Tufts University School of Medicine. “So, before we start vaccinating millions of adolescents and children, it’s so important to find out what the consequences are.”

The CDC’s vaccine safety group said last month it was looking into heart inflammation conditions in a “relatively few” people who received Covid vaccinations.

The cases were predominantly in adolescents and young adults and usually occurred within four days after getting the shot, the CDC said at the time. The condition was seen more often in men and most cases appear to be mild, the agency said, though officials are following up with the patients.

The CDC is coordinating its investigation with the FDA, which last month authorized the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for adolescents ages 12 to 15.

“We still don’t know whether this is truly related to the vaccine,” Dr. Peter Marks, director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, said during a virtual Q&A event on May 27. He added that the “handful” of cases reported have been “very mild, lasting a day or two” and usually happened after a second dose.

Health experts say finding rare side effects once a vaccine or drug is administered to the general population is common and if myocarditis turns out to be related to the Covid vaccine, the risk is negligible when compared with the risks of being infected with Covid-19.