{"id":142240,"date":"2020-12-27T01:56:55","date_gmt":"2020-12-26T22:56:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/brooklyn-clinics-face-criminal-probe-over-unauthorized-covid-19-vaccines\/"},"modified":"2020-12-27T01:56:55","modified_gmt":"2020-12-26T22:56:55","slug":"brooklyn-clinics-face-criminal-probe-over-unauthorized-covid-19-vaccines","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/brooklyn-clinics-face-criminal-probe-over-unauthorized-covid-19-vaccines\/","title":{"rendered":"#Brooklyn clinics face criminal probe over unauthorized COVID-19 vaccines"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#Brooklyn clinics face criminal probe over unauthorized COVID-19 vaccines<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

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A health-care network with clinics in Boro Park, Bensonhurst and Williamsburg is under a criminal investigation for giving unauthorized COVID-19 vaccines, officials said Saturday.<\/p>\n

ParCare Community Health Network \u201cmay have fraudulently obtained COVID-19 vaccine, transferred it to facilities in other parts of the state in violation of state guidelines and diverted it to members of the public,\u201d state Health Commissioner Howard Zucker said in a news release<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The statement came hours after The Post questioned a state health department spokesman about ParCare giving the coveted inoculations.<\/p>\n

The network\u2019s actions app<\/a>ear to violate the state\u2019s plan to administer the limited supply of vaccines first to frontline healthcare workers, along with nursing home residents and staffers, Zucker said.<\/p>\n

The state controls where, and to whom, the vaccine is distributed \u2014 and there isn\u2019t enough for those who are supposed to be at the front of the line.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe supply of COVID-19 vaccine remains limited and has not yet met demand among the groups prioritized for initial vaccination,\u201d Dr. Jane Zucker, the city Health Department\u2019s assistant commissioner for immunizations said Thursday.<\/p>\n

Officials did not say how Schelsinger may have obtained the vaccine.<\/p>\n

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\"ParCare
ParCare shared this poster on social media<\/a> announcing their authorization to administer COVID-19 vaccines.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

ParCare claimed it had received 3,500 doses of the Moderna vaccine, news site BoroPark24 reported Dec. 21.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cHundreds of patients were already vaccinated today, and people are still coming in,\u201d Gary Schlesinger, the CEO and president of ParCare, told the news<\/a> site.<\/p>\n

Schlesinger also said he expected to have vaccinated 500 people in Boro Park that same day.<\/p>\n

ParCare, which also has locations in East Harlem, Crown Heights and Kiryas Joel, set up a website, parcarevaccine.com, where residents could register for the vaccine.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have to be on that list,\u201d Schlesinger told BoroPark24, adding he expected to get more vaccines every day. \u201cOnce you are on the list, we have to vet to make sure that you are either a healthcare worker, are over 60, or have underlying conditions. We will not give the vaccine to people who are not eligible for this first batch of the shots.\u201d<\/p>\n

The vaccine is supposed to be given free of charge. ParCare\u2019s website, though, asks those interested in receiving it for their insurance information. The network accepts Medicare, Medicaid, and most other insurance plans, the company said.<\/p>\n

Schlesinger was seen in a photo tweeted Tuesday<\/a> by the Rabbinical Alliance of America getting vaccinated himself, although he does not appear to be in a group that qualifies.<\/p>\n

ParCare brazenly tweeted photos<\/a> Monday showing boxes of the Moderna vaccine wrapped with ice packs and then in a refrigerator. <\/p>\n

\u201cONE SMALL INJECTION CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE FOR THE ENTIRE COMMUNITY!\u201d it tweeted.<\/p>\n

Schlesinger is politically well-connected in the Orthodox Jewish community. He has cultivated ties to Mayor de Blasio, Attorney General<\/a> Letitia James, Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez, and Brooklyn borough president and mayoral candidate Eric Adams, sources said.<\/p>\n

He claims on his Facebook profile to have worked for the Bloomberg for Mayor campaign in 2009. His social media is full of photos of him with politicians, including President Trump. On Twitter, Schlesinger called de Blasio\u2019s liaison to the Jewish community, Pinny Ringel, a friend.<\/p>\n

A ParCare ad claimed \u201cthe FDA authorized\u201d the network to receive \u201ca minimal number of COVID-19 vaccines.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe vaccines will be made available on a first-come, first-serve (sic) basis,\u201d the ad says.
It adds the vaccines will be given \u201cOnly for people in the following categories,\u201d and lists: \u201cElderly, high risk, underlying conditions.\u201d<\/p>\n

The state has not yet authorized the vaccine for anyone in those categories who lives outside of a nursing home, long-term care facility or group home.<\/p>\n

One community member told The Post his father, in his 60s, received the vaccine at ParCare\u2019s Williamsburg clinic.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s known in the community you can get a vaccine if you want,\u201d the resident said, adding \u201cit\u2019s a mystery\u201d how the clinic obtained the supply.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe take this very seriously and DOH will be assisting State Police in a criminal investigation into this matter. Anyone found to have knowingly participated in this scheme will be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law,\u201d the state health commissioner said.<\/p>\n

Schlesinger could not immediately be reached for comment.\n <\/p><\/div>\n