NY. Authorities in New York announced on Monday that they will impose fines of up to $ 1 million and revoke licenses from doctors or clinics that commit fraud. Covid-19 Vaccines, for example to administer them to people who have no right of way.
“We are not going to tolerate any form of fraud in the vaccination process,” said Governor Andrew Cuomo at a news conference assuring that this measure would send a very clear signal to providers that if they break the law about these vaccinations we will find and pursue them . “
Cuomo’s announcement comes after New York authorities reported this weekend that they are investigating the Parcare network of clinics for allegedly fraudulently obtaining vaccines and ignoring guidelines on who should receive them.
Parcare, which has centers in Manhattan, Brooklyn and on the edge of the Big Apple and serves mostly ultra-Orthodox Jewish patients, announced on December 16, two days after the start of the vaccinations in the United States, on Twitter that it would have a limited dose of the product and make it available in order of application to customers who meet certain criteria.
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He later shared a photo – which was later deleted – of a rabbi being vaccinated.
According to The New York Times, Parcare has confirmed that the man has received a vaccine, but assures that he has done so because he works in the clinic on a daily basis.
However, authorities in New York point out that the company has obtained vaccines under false pretenses and given them to people not on the priority list, led by primary care workers and nursing home residents and employees.
The governor confirmed on Monday that state police are looking into the matter and will turn it over to the attorney general’s office, Letitia James, who will make it a priority.
New York, like the rest of the United States, began the vaccination campaign on Dec. 14 with a focus on health personnel and workers and residents of nursing homes and care centers for people with disabilities. disabilities.
When Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced plans to distribute vaccines in early December, he already warned that the general public would be kept out of the immunization campaign in the first phase.
According to data this Monday, at least 140,000 New Yorkers have already received the first dose of the vaccine, and the state expects to receive an additional 259,000 doses this week so it can begin expanding the groups that receive it.
On the other hand, Cuomo announced a sharp rise during the last day of the percentage of positive Covid-19 tests, which was above 8%, while it was around 5% on Friday.
In any case, the governor assured that the data could be misleading, as far fewer tests have been conducted in recent days – coinciding with the Christmas holidays.
The number of hospital admissions continues to grow despite everything, standing at 7,559 in the state as a whole, where 114 people died from Covid-19 on the last day.
fbpt / ml