Police in New York will refer ParCare Community Health Network to the Attorney General’s office in New York for allegedly abusing the Moderna vaccine, government Andrew Cuomo said Monday.
State Health Commissioner Howard Zucker said the Orange County health care provider obtained the vaccine under false pretenses, moved it to Brooklyn and gave it to people who were not on the priority list. While ParCare is the only organization currently under criminal investigation, the governor said recipients of the vaccine who violate the state’s distribution plan could also face charges.
“When you have a valuable commodity being spent, you should expect fraud,” Cuomo said.
Under the current ‘1A’ distribution plan in New York, only medical workers, first responders, and nursing home staff may receive the coronavirus vaccine. Other groups will follow in future rounds.
“We take this very seriously,” Zucker said in a statement last week. “Anyone who knowingly participates in this scheme will be held responsible to the full extent of the law.”
Police in New York and other investigators were at the ParCare location in Borough Park on Saturday night.
A ParCare spokesman told ABC News on Sunday night that he was working with the state investigation and would return the unused bottles. According to the spokesperson, ParCare has received 2,300 doses of the Moderna vaccine, and 869 of the doses have already been administered.
“ParCare followed all NYS DOH procedures for obtaining the Moderna vaccine and was approved by NYS DOH for distribution and by CDC as a networking site. As a result, we received the vaccines properly and provided the documentation regarding the correct receipt. of the vaccines to the NYS DOH, ”the spokesman told ABC News.
Regarding the patients who received their first shot, ParCare said it would “work with the state to ensure we provide the second dose for our patients.”
-ABC News, Ivan Pereira, Sasha Pezenik and Aaron Katersky contributed to this report.