‘You Stole a Vaccine:’ Video Shows Women Pretending to be Seniors at the COVID-19 Vaccination Site in Florida

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. Camera video of the body released Friday shows delegates berating two women who tried to impersonate seniors so they could receive the second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine at the site of the Orange County Convention Center.

Dr. Raul Pino of the Florida Department of Health in Orange County said two women came to the site “dressed as grandmas” on Wednesday so they could get their second chance. At the moment, Florida only vaccinates those 65 and older, as well as health professionals.

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The body camera video released by the Orange County Sheriff’s Office does not appear to show the 44-year-old woman and 34-year-old woman in disguises, as Pino described. Both wear glasses, as Pino said, and one had a gray cap on her head.

At no point would the sheriff’s office comment on whether they were wearing disguises.

‘Do you know what you did? You stole a vaccine from someone who needs it more than you, and now you’re not getting your second one, ”a deputy said to the couple. So that’s a whole waste of time that we just wasted on this here. So we’re here at that point, but only because of your selfishness to steal a vaccine. “

They were eventually warned for trespass, but no arrests were made and no charges were brought against them.

Okay, this is a violation warning. You are hereby warned that you are not authorized or incited to be on this property, and you may be arrested if at any point in the future you refuse to leave or return to this building or the other buildings, the parking garage everything, everything on the whole property here. It’s ridiculous that you’re here now, ”said a deputy.

One of the deputies told the duo they were lucky not to be arrested.

“We appreciate it very much,” said one of the women, thanking the deputies.

Pino said the women would have gotten the shot, but the vaccinators noticed they looked “strange” and then realized there were some issues with their ID. Deputies said their real name was on their vaccination card, but their date of birth did not match the one on their driver’s license.

“We have had no shortage of willing weapons to be vaccinated. We also have people pretending to be old to be vaccinated. So yesterday we realized that some young ladies dressed as grandmas were coming to get vaccinated for the second time, so I don’t know how they got away the first time, but they came (to get vaccinated). The hats, the gloves, the glasses – the whole thing and they were probably in their twenties, ‘Pino said Thursday.

Now, Pino said officials need to determine if they actually received their first dose and how that might have happened.

“So some of the findings we have to do is: were they really vaccinated by us, when (were) they vaccinated, what happened, on what date, at what time, to try to find out if there were gaps, loopholes in the law, the process by which people can do that, ”said Pino.

He said it’s possible that the women knew someone on the site who gave them access.

Recently, security on the convention center grounds has increased due to an increase in strange incidents, including nurses being approached leaving their shifts at 10 p.m. by strangers wanting to know if they have additional doses.

While the so-called grandma incident may be making headlines, Pino said it’s not the first time someone has tried to fake into getting vaccinated.

So there have been a few. They are all different and creative. There was another person who had the same name as his father, with a card but a different date of birth. But you know, we have access to a lot of information. So we can quickly verify who is who, where they were born, you know, anything you can think of, we have access to, ”said Pino.

Given the pace of operations at the convention center, he knows it is possible that others may have slipped through the cracks.

‘I think it’s higher than we suspect, to be honest. Since we’re involved in this process and trying to move people quickly, some people can squeeze in, so it’s probably higher than we suspect, ”said Pino.

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