A Brooklyn health care company said Sunday it was “proactively returning” its remaining supply of COVID-19 vaccines amid a criminal investigation into allegations that the doses had been fraudulently obtained and diverted.
In a drafted statement, ParCare Community Health Network also insisted that it followed all proper procedures to receive the Moderna vaccines and that it was approved to administer the injections by both the State Department of Health and the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The company said it has “provided the documentation regarding the proper receipt of the vaccines to the NYS DOH.”
“In an effort to fully cooperate with NYS DOH, ParCare has proactively returned its vaccines pending the department’s review,” the statement said.
“We are confident that the end result of that assessment will demonstrate that ParCare has done its best at all times to meet all NYS DOH requirements and will enable us to continue to achieve our primary goal of providing these crucial vaccines to the New Yorkers who need it. them most. “
The Moderna vaccine is designed to be administered in two doses 28 days apart.
ParCare said, “We will do everything we can to ensure that the state understands that our patients are our priority and that everyone gets their second dose accordingly.”
On Saturday, Department of Health Commissioner Howard Zucker said that New York State Police was investigating allegations that ParCare “may have fraudulently obtained the COVID-19 vaccine, transferred it to facilities in other parts of the country. violates state guidelines and has passed it on to members. from the audience. “
Zucker’s statement said the investigation involved ParCare’s Orange County clinic, one of six it operates.
The others are in Brooklyn and Manhattan, and a report posted to the BoroPark24 website last week said 3,500 vaccines were spread across the company’s various locations.
A city official said on Sunday it had not provided any vaccines to ParCare.
New York State guidelines call for the first round of vaccinations to go to primary care health workers and residents of long-term care facilities.
ParCare CEO Gary Schlesinger reportedly told BoroPark24 that the company was giving injections to people who “were either a health worker, are over 60, or have underlying conditions.”
A since-deleted photo on Twitter, posted by the Rabbinical Alliance of America on Tuesday, showed that Schlesinger himself received one of the coveted photos.
The DOH state did not immediately return a request for comment.
Additional reporting by Bernadette Hogan