2 NYPD Supervisors Accused of Submitting Fake COVID Vaccination Cards: Officials

Two NYPD supervisors are under investigation into whether they submitted fake COVID-19 vaccination cards, two senior department officials said.

An investigation by the Internal Affairs Bureau is underway into the allegations lodged against Lieutenant Joseph Marcella and Captain Desmond Morales, the NYPD officials said.

Both Marcella and Morales were placed on modified duty, and have had their guns and shields taken from them, police said.

"We were clear from the outset that vaccine compliance was a serious matter. It is not just about the individual NYPD employee's health, but also the health of their coworkers and others around them," the NYPD said in a statement. "If the investigation finds that these two officers substituted false documentation to the department it is a serious breach of integrity and the law."

A spokesperson who represents both officers' unions said they and the officers had no comment on the allegations Wednesday night.

All NYC municipal employees, including NYPD officers, were required by law to have gotten at least the first dose of the COVID vaccine by Oct. 29 at 5 p.m., or get a medical or religious exemption shortly after. Those who did not abide by the mandate would be placed on unpaid leave.

By late November, at least 87 percent of NYPD employees were said to have received at least one dose of the vaccine.