In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, a nurse allegedly exploited her duty at Costco pharmacies to enter false information into Quebec’s vaccination registry, resulting in the issuance of illegal vaccination passports.
Marie-Lyne Alexandre Blais appeared at the Quebec courthouse last week and was charged with producing a false document and fraudulent use of a computer.
The 41-year-old nurse was working for the Chaudière-Appalaches Integrated Health and Social Services Center (CISSS) when she attended the COVID-19 vaccination drive at Sainte-Foy and Levi’s Costco pharmacies.
Open in full screen mode
The CIUSSS de Chaudière-Appalaches nurse allegedly entered the wrong information while working part-time as a vaccination assistant at Costco.
Photo: Radio-Canada / Yannick Bergeron
Following a report to the Permanent Anti-Corruption Unit (UPAC), police launched an investigation.
Radio-Canada received UPAC’s request for a communications order to access data from the Department of Health and Human Services.
The court document details how the nurse allegedly allowed seven people, including herself, to fraudulently obtain proof of vaccination.
The allegations contained in this document have yet to be proven in court. There we can read that an auditor has found anomalies in certain entries in the registry that concern people who would have been vaccinated at the Center de foire de Québec.
Open in full screen mode
The nurse pointed out that people had been vaccinated at the exhibition center, even though no appointment had been made there on their behalf.
repeated/continued
The information entered with the defendant’s employee code indicates vaccinations carried out by inactive nurses or those in other administrative regions such as Abitibi.
The vaccinated people, most of whom came from the same family, had not made an appointment on the Clic Santé portal. Registrations for their vaccines would have taken place at Costco in November 2021, when Marie-Lyne Alexandre Blais worked there.
Self-vaccination
The nurse, who also practices under the name Marie-Lyne Blais, received two doses that appear to be consistent, the UPAC investigator states in the legal document.
However, she would have had herself vaccinated for the third dose, writes criminal police officer Pierre Larochelle.
The Costco pharmacy manager advised the officer that self-vaccinations were an unusual practice.
In his order application, the investigator concludes that the nurse used his access to the information system for protection against infectious diseases to enter false information, which ultimately enabled false vaccination certificates to be created.
Not guilty
After appearing alone, Marie-Lyne Alexandre Blais hired a lawyer to represent her for the remainder of the trial.
Audrey Couture told Radio-Canada that her client did not wish to comment at this time. The lawyer has yet to read and assess the evidence but has indicated that Ms Alexandre Blais denies the allegations and wishes to plead not guilty.
The file will be returned to the court in January.
Still a nurse
The name Marie-Lyne Alexandre Blais still appears in the list of the Order of Nurses of Quebec. The resident of Saint-Henri near Lévis has been registered there since May 2008.
She is currently not the subject of proceedings before her profession’s disciplinary board. The CISSS de Chaudière-Appalaches confirms that the clinical nurse has not been employed since April last year.