“The State Department of Health has been made aware of reports that Parcare Community Health Network, an Orange County provider, may have fraudulently obtained COVID-19 vaccine, transferred it to facilities in other parts of the state in violation of state guidelines and diverted it to members of the public – contrary to the state’s plan to administer it first to frontline healthcare workers, as well as nursing home residents and staffers.
“We take this very seriously and DOH will be assisting State Police in a criminal investigation into this matter.
“Anyone found to have knowingly participated in this scheme will be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law.”
– New York Health Commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker, Dec 26, 2020
FOX NEWS – New York police and the state’s Department of Health are investigating Parcare Community Health Network saying it may have “fraudulently” used Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine.
On Monday, Gary Schlesinger, CEO and president of ParCare, told BoroPark24 that its clinics are vetting people who sign up for the vaccine to make sure they are “either a health care worker, are over 60, or have underlying conditions.”
At least 89,000 New Yorkers received their first COVID-19 vaccine dose last week.
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Coronavirus NY: State in ‘footrace’ amid rising coronavirus cases, Cuomo says
December 26, 2020
AP, NEW YORK — Gov. Andrew Cuomo urged New Yorkers to remain vigilant in the fight against the coronavirus, saying in a Christmas Day statement that the state finds itself in a “footrace” to distribute the vaccine amid rising cases.
The latest statistics showed the state’s positivity rate falling slightly even as hospitalizations continued to rise.
The state on Friday announced 122 new deaths caused by COVID-19, bringing the state’s official count to 29,270. But the governor sounded a note of cautious optimism on the 300th day of the pandemic.
“New York made it through Thanksgiving better than most places, so as we celebrate Christmas today it’s critical we retain that momentum and remember that celebrating smart stops shutdowns,” the Democrat said. “While the vaccine is now here, we are still months away from widespread vaccination and finally reaching that light at the end of the tunnel.”
Cuomo also applauded the announcement by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention late Thursday that the United States will require airline passengers from Britain to get a negative COVID-19 test before their flight. Read more.
Early Vaccine Doubters Now Show a Willingness to Roll Up Their Sleeves
Polls show that pervasive skepticism is melting, partly because of the high efficacy rates in trials and the images of real people getting the shot.
THE NEW YORK TIMES – Ever since the race to develop a coronavirus vaccine began last spring, upbeat announcements were stalked by ominous polls: No matter how encouraging the news, growing numbers of people said they would refuse to get the shot.
The time frame was dangerously accelerated, many people warned. The vaccine was a scam from Big Pharma, others said.
A political ploy by the Trump administration, many Democrats charged. The internet pulsed with apocalyptic predictions from longtime vaccine opponents, who decried the new shot as the epitome of every concern they’d ever put forth.
But over the past few weeks, as the vaccine went from a hypothetical to a reality, something happened.
Fresh surveys show attitudes shifting and a clear majority of Americans now eager to get vaccinated … Read more.
