When David first saw the ad in his local Whatsapp group in the Long Island community inviting people like him and his wife, over 65, to sign up to get the COVID-19 vaccine, he was skeptical . The ad was linked to an indescribable Google form that asked him to answer a few questions and submit insurance information.
“It simply came to our notice then. Is this an attempt to steal my identity? A scam? ‘ he said in an email recounting his experience with the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
Whether and how David will receive the second dose needed to maximize the effectiveness of the Moderna vaccine he received is now unknown. This is because the state announced a criminal investigation into ParCare days after its vaccination over allegations that the Brooklyn healthcare provider fraudulently obtained the vaccine and distributed it to members of the public. This appears to be the first investigation into possible vaccine fraud in the United States.
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“Anyone who has participated scientifically in this scheme will be held responsible to the full extent of the law,” said Dr. New York State Health Commissioner Howard Zucker said in a statement on Saturday.
A ParCare representative said Sunday that the network had “proactively” returned its vaccine supply to work with the state health department.
“We will work with the state to ensure we provide the second dose for our patients,” ParCare said in a statement. “We will do everything in our power to make sure the state understands that our patients have our priority and that everyone receives their second dose accordingly.”
Government officials on Sunday did not answer questions about how they intended to handle the second doses of people vaccinated by ParCare. Moderna’s clinical trial found that a single dose was 80 to 90% effective, compared with 94% for the two-dose vaccination.
David, who asked to use an alias because he feared consequences because he talked about his experience, said he was anxious that he would have to go without a second dose due to the investigation into ParCare. He pleaded on behalf of other patients who received the first dose of the vaccine: “Please do not let it go and may approve their follow-up shot.”
It is unclear how many people are in David’s position. BoroPark24, a Jewish news service, reported on December 21 that ParCare had received 3,500 doses of Modner vaccine and would vaccinate 500 people that day.
A representative for the network told JTA that the vaccines were properly obtained and shared a packing slip and an e-mail from the state health department showing that 2,300 doses of vaccine were given to ParCare in Monroe, New York, the city in the upstate, was delivered. it includes the Hasidic village of Kiryas Joel.
But it is clear that those vaccinated by ParCare include prominent Orthodox leaders. Rabbi Hershel Schachter and Rabbi Mordechai Willig, both head teachers at Yeshiva University, were vaccinated at ParCare last week, and the network tweeted a video of their vaccinations. Neither Schachter (79) nor Willig (73) is a front-line health worker or a nursing home resident or worker; the two categories are currently eligible for vaccines.
On Sunday night, Schachter, who was an outspoken leader and insisted on complying with the pandemic guidelines, said he was informed his vaccination was on board.
“If one of us had said that it was inappropriate, that it was not legal, we would not have done it,” he said before presenting an online Torah lesson.
ParCare has advertised that it will provide vaccines to people over 65 and with pre-existing health conditions. But one doctor in Manhattan said he had reason to believe that people who were much younger were vaccinated.
Horowitz said ParCare’s alleged misconduct was ‘morally repulsive’, particularly because he said he saw patients with COVID-19 but had not yet received the vaccine.
“I have little, if any, sympathy with people who get off track, but I think the biggest blame is the managers of this facility,” he said.
This is what state investigators are apparently investigating. The Centers for Disease Control’s agreement for vaccination programs that require New York to sign private practices tells participants to “administer COVID-19 vaccine in accordance with all applicable state and territorial vaccination laws.” Violation of the agreement could result in suspension or termination of the program and the imposition of federal criminal and civil penalties.
Gary Schlesinger, the leading Hasidic businessman who owns the ParCare network, shared a photo of his own vaccination on Twitter late last week. He removed his post after the state announced its investigation.
David, the man who was vaccinated at ParCare, said he assumes ParCare distributes the vaccine early because of the COVID-19 rates in Orthodox communities. Both the Mayor of New York, Bill de Blasio, and the Government of New York, Andrew Cuomo, have paid attention to decay in the communities, in accordance with rules designed to limit the spread of the disease.
And the city partnered with ParCare because it worked to manage the pandemic. In October, the NYC Test & Trace Corps, the city’s contact detection unit, announced that it was expanding the vendor’s COVID-19 testing capabilities and offering additional resources and supplies.
But while Orthodox Brooklyn experienced some of the first major outbreaks of the pandemic in the United States, neighborhoods with most Orthodox Jews are not on the city’s list of areas that have taken the worst toll throughout the pandemic. The list, de Blasio said last week, will determine where the vaccinations are sent once the vaccination for the general public begins.
Dr. Aaron Glatt, head of infectious diseases and epidemiologists at Mount Sinai South Nassau Hospital on Long Island and an assistant rabbi at the Young Israel of Woodmere, a large Orthodox synagogue, declined to comment on the ParCare do not investigate. But he said he, along with other medical professionals, has no alternative but to follow the state’s distribution schedules.
He also said he has personally made many inquiries about the availability of vaccines since the first federal approvals earlier this month.
“People are very anxious, very excited, very interested in taking this vaccine,” Glatt said. “I think the only concern at the moment is ‘how can I get the vaccine’.”