A Brooklyn clinic that is under investigation for allegedly obtaining and diverting highly coveted COVID-19 vaccines, claimed on Sunday that it is no longer distributing injections.
A handwritten sign saying “NO Vaccines !!” it was taped to the front door of the ParCare Community Health Network store in Williamsburg after the Post asked if injections were available.
Five people were seen entering the clinic at 445 Park Ave., but a reporter was denied entry, with a nurse saying, “We only allow people with consultations to enter.”
When asked if patients were being inoculated against the coronavirus, the nurse said, “We don’t have vaccines.”
A man who appeared later was also barred from entering, saying later that “of course” he was there to take a picture.
“This is not right,” he complained.
“I know people.”
A middle-aged man who stopped by said that vaccinations had taken place there before.
“My father got the vaccine here,” said the man. “What, should he die for some political decision?”
Mark Meyer Appel, who runs The Bridge Multicultural Advocacy Project in Brooklyn, told the Post he received an injection at the clinic on Wednesday after learning that the vaccine was available.
Appel, 68, said he needed to be vaccinated against COVID-19 because he has diabetes and operates a food pantry that puts him in contact with many people.
“I was on the front line more than the average person,” he said.
Appel also said that he “was not ashamed to have received the photo”, but admitted that he withdrew a Facebook post on the subject in response to online criticism.
On Saturday, the state Department of Health announced that it was assisting the state police in a criminal investigation by ParCare, a nonprofit organization that runs six clinics in Brooklyn, Manhattan and Orange County.
The investigation involves allegations that ParCare’s Orange County operation in Kiryas Joel “may have fraudulently obtained the COVID-19 vaccine, transferred to facilities in other parts of the state in violation of state guidelines and diverted to members of the public “Commissioner Howard Zucker said.
Zucker called the coup “contrary to the state’s plan to manage [vaccines] first to frontline health professionals, as well as residents and nursing home staff. ”
“Anyone who has consciously participated in this scheme will be held responsible to the full extent of the law,” he added.
On December 21, ParCare claimed to have received 3,500 doses of the Modern vaccine, with CEO Gary Schlesinger telling BoroPark24: “Hundreds of patients have already been vaccinated today and people are still arriving.”
On a series of tweets Earlier on Sunday, ParCare said it was “committed to providing essential health services and administering COVID-19 vaccines to those qualified to receive them under New York State Department of Health guidelines.”
“As we actively cooperate with the New York State Department of Health on this issue, we will continue to provide high quality health services to help New York out of this pandemic,” he added.