A Brooklyn clinic under investigation for allegedly fraudulently obtaining and diverting coveted COVID-19 vaccines claimed on Sunday that it is no longer firing.
A handwritten sign that reads “NO Vaccines !!” was taped to the front door of the ParCare Community Health Network store in Williamsburg after The Post asked if injections were available.
Five people were seen entering the clinic at 445 Park Avenue, but a reporter was denied entry and a nurse said, “We only allow people with an appointment.”
When asked if patients were being vaccinated against the coronavirus, the nurse said, “We don’t have any vaccines.”
A man who showed up afterwards was not allowed to enter either, later saying he was “of course” there to get a shot.
“This isn’t right,” he growled.
“I know people.”
A middle-aged man who walked by said vaccinations had taken place there before.
“My father got the vaccine here,” the man said. “What, would he have to die for a political decision?”
Mark Meyer Appel, who leads The Bridge Multicultural Advocacy Project in Brooklyn, told The Post he got a chance at the clinic on Wednesday after learning the vaccine was available.
Appel, 68, said he needed to be vaccinated against COVID-19 because he has diabetes and operates a pantry that puts him in touch with many people.
“I’ve been more in the forefront than the average person,” he said.
Appel also said he was “not ashamed that I was given the chance,” but admitted that he wrote a Facebook post about it in response to online criticism.
On Saturday, the State Department of Health announced that it was assisting state police in a criminal investigation into ParCare, a nonprofit that runs six clinics in Brooklyn, Manhattan and Orange County.
The investigation includes allegations that ParCare’s Orange County operation, in Kiryas Joel, “may have fraudulently obtained the COVID-19 vaccine, transferred it to facilities in other parts of the state in violation of state guidelines, and has redirected to the public, “Commissioner Howard Zucker said.
Zucker called the scam “contrary to the state’s plan [vaccines] first to primary health care workers, but also to nursing home residents and staff members. “
“Anyone found to have knowingly participated in this plan will be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law,” he added.
On December 21, ParCare claimed to have received 3,500 doses of the Moderna vaccine, with CEO Gary Schlesinger telling the BoroPark24 website, “Hundreds of patients have already been vaccinated today and people are still coming in.”
In a series of tweets Early Sunday, ParCare said it “strives to provide essential health care and administer COVID-19 vaccinations to those qualified to receive them according to New York State Department of Health guidelines.”
“As we actively work with the New York State Department of Health in this area, we will continue to provide quality healthcare services to help New York come out of this pandemic,” he added.