:strip_exif(true):strip_icc(true):no_upscale(true):quality(65)/d1vhqlrjc8h82r.cloudfront.net/02-19-2021/t_ae29c0df87514c02bf65baae85776429_name_image.jpg "‘You stole a vaccine:’ Video shows women posing as elderly women at Florida’s COVID-19 vaccination site")
ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – The video from the body camera released on Friday shows police officers reprimanding two women who tried to impersonate elderly women so they could get their second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine at the Orange County Convention Center site.
Dr. Raul Pino, of the Florida Department of Health in Orange County, said two women came to the site on Wednesday “dressed as grandparents” so they could receive their second injection. At the moment, Florida is vaccinating only people aged 65 and over, as well as healthcare professionals.
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The video from the body camera released by the Orange County Sheriff’s Office does not appear to show the 44-year-old woman and the 34-year-old woman in disguise as Pino described it. Both wear glasses, as Pino said, and one had a gray cap on his head.
The sheriff’s office declined to comment if they were wearing disguises at any time.
“Do you know what you did? You stole a vaccine from someone who needs it more than you do and now you won’t receive the second one, ”said a police officer to the pair. “So it’s a big waste of time that we waste it here. So, we are at that point right here, but only for your selfishness to steal a vaccine. “
In the end, they received an invasion notice, but no arrests were made and they face no charges.
“OK, this is an invasion warning. You are hereby warned that you are not licensed or encouraged to be in these facilities, and you may be arrested if you refuse to leave or return at any time in the future in this building or other buildings, in the car park everything, anything on the property whole here. It is ridiculous that you are here now, ”said a deputy.
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One of the deputies told the pair that they were lucky not to be arrested.
“We are very grateful,” said one of the women, thanking the deputies.
Pino said the women would have been vaccinated, but the vaccinators realized that they “looked funny” and then realized that there were some problems with their identities. The deputies said their vaccination cards had their real names, but their dates of birth did not match those on the driver’s license.
“There was no lack of arms for vaccination. We also have people pretending to be old to be vaccinated. So, yesterday, we noticed that some young women came dressed as grandmothers to be vaccinated the second time, so I don’t know how they escaped the first time, but they came (to be) vaccinated. The caps, the gloves, the glasses – everything and they were probably in their 20s, ”said Pino on Thursday.
Now, Pino said the authorities will need to determine whether they actually received the first dose and how it may have happened.
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“So, part of the discoveries that we have to make is, if they were really vaccinated by us, when (they were) vaccinated, what happened, on what date, at what time, to try to find out if there is a hole, gap, in the process that is allowing people to do that, ”said Pino.
He said it is possible for women to meet someone at the location who allowed them access.
Security has recently been increased at the convention center site due to an increase in strange incidents, including nurses being approached when they leave their shifts at 10 pm by strangers wanting to know if they have any extra doses.
Although the so-called grandmother incident may be in the headlines, Pino said it is not the first time anyone has tried to pretend to be vaccinated.
“So there were a few. They are all different and creative. There was another individual who had the same name as the father, came with a card but a different birthday. But, you know, we have access to a lot of information. So, we can quickly verify who is who, where they were born, you know, anything you can imagine, we have access ”, said Pino.
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Given the pace of operations at the convention center, he knows that other people may have escaped.
“I think it is taller than we suspect, to be honest with you. As we are involved in this process and trying to move people quickly, some people can squeeze themselves out, so it is probably taller than we suspect, ”said Pino.
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