A network of medical clinics owned and operated by an ultra-Orthodox man is under investigation in New York authorities for alleged inoculation of members of the general public with a COVID-19 vaccine in violation of official rollout plans.
Howard Zucker, New York State Commissioner, announced the investigation into the ParCare Community Health Network on Saturday, saying in a statement that it may have obtained the vaccines “fraudulently” and administered doses to the public “in violation of its plan. the state.”
People gather outside the Congregation Yetev Lev D’Satmar Synagogue in Williamsburg, New York, October 2020
(Photo: AFP)
“We take this very seriously and DOH will assist state police in a criminal investigation into this matter,” Zucker said in his statement, referring to the Department of Health.
“Anyone found to have knowingly participated in this plan will be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law.”
According to Zucker, ParCare has reportedly ‘violated the state’s governance plan [the vaccine] first to primary health care workers, but also to nursing home residents and staff members. ”
BoroPark24, a Yiddish-language news agency, reported on Dec. 21 that the ParCare Community Health Network had received 3,500 doses of the vaccine manufactured by Moderna and vaccinated 500 people that day.
The agency said ParCare has six locations in Williamsburg, Crown Heights, Bensonhurst, East Harlem and Kiryas Joel in addition to Boro Park.
ParCare CEO Gary Schlesinger disputed the New York State allegations in a statement to the New York Post, insisting that ParCare was allowed to vaccinate patients and that only people over 60 or with underlying conditions were given the dose.
He also told BoroPark that the Department of Health is happy to partner with clinics that have undergone a “rigorous approval process” by the state and meet the requirement to serve the widest variety of populations.
A Haredi man wears a surgical mask while walking through Boro Park in New York
(Photo: Reuters)
ParCare also wrote on Twitter that it “would actively work with the New York State Department of Health on this matter” and stressed that it “had a long history of working with New York City to provide essential health care services to New Yorkers who need it. have. most. ”
New York health officials have warned that the areas most affected for the virus increase overlap with large ultra-Orthodox Jewish communities in the Brooklyn and Queens boroughs and a few nearby counties.
But tensions between officials and Orthodox communities have been high over social distance measures imposed to stop the spread of COVID-19 that has devastated Orthodox neighborhoods.