A network of medical clinics owned and operated by an ultra-Orthodox man is being investigated by New York authorities for allegedly inoculating the general public with a COVID-19 vaccine, in violation of official launch plans.
New York State Health Commissioner Howard Zucker announced the investigation into 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 state plan.” “.
People Gather Outside Synagogue of Yetev Lev D’Satmar Congregation in Williamsburg, New York, October 2020
(Photo: AFP)
“We take this very seriously and the DOH will assist the State Police in a criminal investigation into this matter,” Zucker said in a statement, referring to the Department of Health.
“Anyone who has knowingly participated in this system will be held liable to the fullest extent of the law.”
According to Zucker, ParCare violated “the state’s plan to administer [the vaccine] first in front of health workers as well as nursing home residents and 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 disputed New York State’s allegations in a statement to the New York Post, insisting that ParCare was given permission to vaccinate patients and that only people over 60 or with underlying conditions were given the dose.
He also told BoroPark that the Department of Health likes to work with clinics that have undergone a “rigorous approval process” by the state and that meet the requirement to serve the most diverse populations.
A Haredi man is wearing a surgical mask as he walks through Boro Park in New York
(Photo: Reuters)
ParCare also wrote on Twitter that it will “actively cooperate with the New York State Department of Health in this regard” and insisted that it has “a long history of partnering with New York City to provide vital health care services to New Yorkers.” who need them the most. ”
New York health officials have warned that the areas most affected by the virus’s growth overlap with large ultra-Orthodox Jewish communities in the Brooklyn and Queens neighborhoods and several nearby counties.
But tensions were high between officials and Orthodox communities over social distancing measures imposed to stop the spread of COVID-19, which devastated Orthodox neighborhoods.