Title: Pharmacist Averts Dismissal After Falsifying COVID-19 Vaccine Certificates for Partner and Brother
A pharmacist has escaped being sacked after falsifying COVID-19 vaccine certificates for her long-term partner and brother. Holly de Souza used a junior colleague’s login details to fabricate records, enabling her partner and his sibling to travel abroad.
The pharmacist initially lied about her actions before finally confessing, claiming she felt "coerced." A professional tribunal heard that the technician, based at Wicker Pharmacy in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, acted in a "dishonest" and "calculated" manner in early March 2022, just weeks after leaving the pharmacy.
Souza contacted a junior colleague, known only as Colleague A, seeking their login details to access the COVID-19 vaccination register. She claimed she wanted to "check the queue" because her cousins were anxious to receive a COVID booster. She later asked for Colleague A’s password, stating she couldn’t recall hers.
The next day, she contacted Colleague A again, claiming her cousins couldn’t travel and might not need the boost after all. She then requested Colleague A’s password.
Souza later admitted falsifying records for her partner and brother, claiming she did so because they didn’t want the vaccine but needed proof of vaccination to travel.
The committee found her actions "serious" and her admitted "calculated, sustained, and deliberate dishonesty" to be a breach of professional principles. They suspended her for a year, subject to conditions, before she could resume her service.
In their decision, the committee acknowledged de Souza’s apparent maturity since the incident but described her actions as "selfish" and "contemptible." They rejected her claim that her ex-partner had forced her into dishonesty, referring to it as a "difficult situation" she could have handled better.
