It all started when “some individuals” arrived at a vaccination site in the city of Florida, about 40 miles south of Miami, and told the team that they were health professionals, FEMA spokesman Marty Bahamonde told CNN on Sunday.
The team asked them for proof of their status, but “they were unable to validate that they were health professionals,” said Bahamonde.
“So the team, trusting them and taking their word, instead of rejecting them, gave them the vaccine,” said Bahamonde. “These people then went out and said to their friends, ‘Hey, I went in and said that and I got a free vaccine.’ And more and more people started arriving and then it was spread that people were getting the vaccine that did not meet the governor’s criteria. “
Several groups of people told CNN that they waited more than six hours to be vaccinated, and some of them were refused.
Brothers Miraj and Saima Haque traveled early on Sunday from Boynton Beach, about 95 miles north, to get a vaccine. Their father recently had surgery and cannot be vaccinated, they said, but Miraj and Saima are still working.
“Even if we do our best to stay at home, it is still good to keep my father safe. Many people in my family also have autoimmune diseases, so we are just doing our best to get vaccinated as soon as possible,” Saima Haque told CNN. “But it is really difficult, since we are not 65 years old, nor teachers, nor anything like that. So, we are just waiting here to see if we could get any surplus.”
Miraj Haque said he heard about the site on Twitter. Although they waited for about seven hours, neither he nor his sister received a vaccine on Sunday because FEMA representatives told them and others that any remaining vaccines would be sent to the main FEMA-supported site on the Miami-Dade College campus. North.
Kanushri Wadhwa, 29, told CNN that she has an underlying health problem and was able to get the vaccine on Sunday. She said she heard about the site on the news and arrived with her group at around 7 am.
“We were like, let’s hurry up,” she said.
This weekend’s accident led FEMA to meet with employees and tell them that they need to make sure that people are eligible.
“If they come to the center and do not have validation, we ask them to come back. Go home and get validation and come back, so we can see if they are who they say they are, ”said Bahamonde.
Another FEMA spokesman told CNN on Sunday that community vaccination centers are led by states and can be supported by federal government entities, including FEMA.
The state government also determines vaccination priorities and procedures, and FEMA does not determine who is entitled to a vaccine, the spokesman said.
CNN’s Denise Royal reported from Florida City and Amir Vera and Chuck Johnston reported and wrote from Atlanta. CNN’s Gisela Crespo and Naomi Thomas contributed to this report.