A network of medical clinics owned and operated by an ultra-orthodox man is being investigated by New York authorities for allegedly inoculating members of the general public with a COVID-19 vaccine, in violation of official distribution plans.
New York State Health Commissioner Howard Zucker announced the investigation by the ParCare Community Health Network on Saturday, saying in a statement that he may have obtained the vaccines “fraudulently” and administered doses to members of the public “contrary to the plan. state”.
People gather outside the synagogue of the Yetev Lev D’Satmar Congregation in Williamsburg, New York, October 2020
(Photo: AFP)
“We take this very seriously and the DOH will be assisting the State Police in a criminal investigation into the matter,” said Zucker in his statement, referring to the Department of Health.
“Anyone found to have consciously participated in this scheme will be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law.”
According to Zucker, ParCare allegedly violated “the state’s plan to manage [the vaccine] first for frontline health professionals, as well as residents and nursing home staff. ”
BoroPark24, a Yiddish-language news agency, reported on December 21 that the ParCare Community Health Network obtained 3,500 doses of the vaccine produced by Moderna and vaccinated 500 people that day.
The agency said that in addition to Boro Park, ParCare has six locations in Williamsburg, Crown Heights, Bensonhurst, East Harlem and Kiryas Joel.
ParCare CEO Gary Schlesinger contested the New York State claims in a statement to the New York Post, insisting that ParCare has been allowed to vaccinate patients and that only people over 60 or with underlying diseases have received the dose.
He also told BoroPark that the Health Department likes to work with clinics that go through a “rigorous approval process” by the state and that meet the requirements to serve the most diverse populations.
A Haredi man wears a surgical mask while walking through Boro Park in New York
(Photo: Reuters)
ParCare also wrote on Twitter that he would “actively cooperate with the New York State Department of Health on this issue” and insisted that he had “a long history of partnering with New York City to provide vital health services to New Yorkers. who need them. most. ”
New York health officials have warned that the areas most affected by the increase in the virus overlap the large ultra-Orthodox Jewish communities in the neighborhoods of Brooklyn and Queens and in some nearby counties.
But tensions have been high between authorities and orthodox communities over the social distance measures imposed to prevent the spread of COVID-19, which has devastated orthodox neighborhoods.