Charges Likely Against NYC Clinic In Vaccine Probe, Cuomo Says

BROOKLYN, NY — A network of urgent care clinics with bases in Brooklyn and Harlem will likely be charged with multiple crimes after an investigation into how it handled a batch of the coronavirus vaccine, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced.

The governor said Monday that a state police investigation into ParCare Community Health Network will be referred to the Attorney General after authorities concluded that there were multiple crimes in the way the clinics transferred, stored and administered the vaccine, Cuomo said Monday.

State police and the New York Department of Health had opened an investigation into the New York City clinics over the weekend after accusations ParCare had given out "fraudulently obtained" doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine to members of the public despite the state's plan to first vaccinate healthcare workers and nursing home staff and residents.

The announcement comes as Cuomo signs a new executive order aimed at stopping fraud in the distribution of the vaccine.

"Anyone who engages in fraud is going to be held accountable,” he said. “The executive order I’m going to sign today says the provider could be funded up to $1 million and a revocation of all state licenses, which frankly may be more of a deterrent than the $1 million.”

The executive order will apply to doctors, nurses, pharmacist and any licensed health care professional who knowingly fraudulently administers the vaccine.

New York has so far only given out vaccines to at-risk healthcare workers and nursing home residents and staff. Emergency responders are the next group slated to get the shot, starting this week.

But, ParCare allegedly had been giving out the shots to members of the public that are included in a later phase of the state's vaccine plan, including those over 60 or with underlying conditions, according to ads and reports in local news site BoroPark24.

The governor said Monday that the clinic was able to get a shipment of the vaccines by "misrepresenting" themselves to the state.

ParCare has locations in Williamsburg, Bensonhurst, Borough Park, East Harlem and on the border of Bed-Stuy and Crown Heights. It also has an outpost in Kiryas Joel, a village northwest of the city.

The healthcare network has denied any wrongdoing and has "proactively returned" its remaining batch of vaccines, according to reports. The clinic had given out 869 of its 2,300 doses before handing over the rest to the state.

“We are confident the end result of that review will show that ParCare at all times exerted best efforts to comply with all NYS DOH requirements and will allow us to continue to achieve our number one goal of providing these critical vaccines to the New Yorkers who need them most," they said in a recent statement.