The women are accused of changing the years of birth on their vaccination applications and were rejected.
Two women who dressed up as seniors in an effort to get COVID-19 vaccinations were rejected and warned of violations in Orlando, Florida, officials said.
Dr. Raul Pino, the state health officer in Orange County, where Orlando is located, said the women “dressed up as grandmas” and disguised themselves on Wednesday with hats, gloves and glasses.
Sheriff’s spokeswoman Michelle Guido told the Orlando Sentinel that the women, 34 and 44 years old, have changed their birth years on their vaccination records to bypass the state system, which prioritizes people 65 and older. It turned out that the women had gotten the first shot, but it was unclear where.
“Their names matched their registration, but not their date of birth,” Guido told the Sentinel.
Health department officials asked deputies to issue violation warnings.
Guido said the warning means they cannot return to the convention center for any reason, including a vaccine, COVID-19 test, convention, or show. If they return, they can be arrested.
Pino said the health department investigation will try to determine where they were vaccinated before and how they made an appointment. He said the department “will try to find out if there are gaps or loopholes in the process that allow people to do that.”
“This is the most popular product out there at the moment, so we have to be very careful,” Pino told reporters.
Because there is a limited supply of the vaccine available, some take extreme measures to get the injections. Last month, a Canadian couple was charged after traveling to an indigenous region and falsely posing as local residents to receive the vaccine.
“How dare these two privileged multimillionaires … lie to medical professionals, putting our community at risk to jump in line?” Angela Demit, head of White River’s First Nation, asked in a statement on social media.