A Brooklyn-based healthcare company said on Sunday that it had “proactively returned” its remaining stock of COVID-19 vaccines amid a criminal investigation into allegations that doses were fraudulently obtained and diverted.
In a prepared statement, the ParCare Community Health Network also insisted that it followed all appropriate procedures for obtaining Modern vaccines and was approved to administer the vaccines by the state Department of Health and the Federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The company reported that “it provided the NYS DOH with documentation regarding the proper receipt of vaccines”.
“In an effort to cooperate fully with the NYS DOH, ParCare has proactively returned its vaccines pending the Department’s review,” according to the statement.
“We are confident that the end result of this review will show that ParCare has always put its best efforts into meeting all NYS DOH requirements and will allow us to continue to achieve our number one goal of providing these essential vaccines to New Yorkers who need the most. their. “
The Moderna vaccine is designed to be administered in two doses 28 days apart.
ParCare said: “We will do everything in our power to ensure that the state understands that our patients are our priority and that everyone receives their second dose accordingly.”
On Saturday, State Department of Health commissioner Howard Zucker said the New York State Police was investigating allegations that ParCare “may have fraudulently obtained the COVID-19 vaccine, transferred to facilities elsewhere state in violation of state guidelines and diverted to members of the public. “
Zucker’s statement said the investigation involved the ParCare clinic in Orange County, which is one of six that operates.
The others are located in Brooklyn and Manhattan, and a report published last week on the BoroPark24 website said 3,500 vaccines have been distributed to various locations in the company.
A city official said on Sunday that he had not dispensed any vaccines to ParCare.
New York state guidelines require that the first round of vaccines reach out to frontline healthcare professionals and residents of long-term care facilities.
ParCare CEO Gary Schlesinger reportedly told BoroPark24 that the company was giving injections to people who were “health professionals, over 60 or have underlying diseases”.
A photo removed on Twitter, posted by the Rabbinic Alliance of America on Tuesday, showed Schlesinger receiving one of the highly coveted photos.
The state DOH did not immediately return a request for comment.
Additional reporting by Bernadette Hogan