New York State Government Andrew Cuomo speaks at a news conference on September 8, 2020 in New York.
Spencer Platt | Getty Images
The attorney general in New York is investigating whether a health care clinic in the state fraudulently obtained Covid doses and distributed them to the public, Governor Andrew Cuomo said Monday.
Cuomo declined to provide details of the investigation because it continues, but he noted that it involves ParCare Community Health Network, which has identified the state as a provider in Orange County, New York. Parcare allegedly misrepresented itself to the health department to get the doses of vaccines, Cuomo said.
New York State Health Commissioner Howard Zucker said in a statement released over the weekend that the clinic may have “redirected” [the vaccine] to the public – contrary to the state’s plan to first administer it to health care workers, as well as residents and nursing homes and staff. “
Because doses of the vaccine are so low, ration the vials to certain priority groups before making them more widely available.
ParCare did not immediately return CNBC’s request for comment, but the clinic said on Twitter that it will ‘actively cooperate’ with the New York Department of Health.
This is one of the first cases of alleged fraud involving Covid vaccines, but it is unlikely to be the last, Cuomo said, adding that fraud with a valuable commodity ‘almost an inevitable function of the human nature is’.
“We want to send a clear signal to the providers that if you break the law on these vaccinations, we will find out and you will be prosecuted,” Cuomo said at a news conference on Monday. “You’re going to see more and more of this. The vaccine is a valuable commodity and you have a lot of people who want the vaccine.”
New York police are conducting a criminal investigation, Cuomo noted, and will refer the case to New York AG Letitia James, whose office did not return CNBC’s request for comment.
To send a clear signal of possible vaccine violations, Cuomo said he would sign an executive order on Monday outlining the consequences of the state’s fraud involving the distribution of vaccines. He said the state could fine offenders up to $ 1 million and the state would revoke the health care provider’s license to practice in New York.
“We are very serious about this,” he said. “We will find out and it is not worth risking your license as well as a possible civil and criminal penalty.”
Cuomo described the penalties as “the most severe in the country”, adding that New York follows a “hyper-cautious, hyper-vigilant” approach.
“We have the fines in place. We have the guarantees in place, but if you are dealing with thousands of people and hundreds of organizations and a valuable commodity, you expect some fraud,” Cuomo said. “Just as surely as night follows day, you will have people deceiving the government.”
“I understand the value of one vial,” he added. “Some of the vials can do 10 vaccinations. You can sell the one vial, so I understand the temptation.”