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Two Florida ladies disguised themselves as aged grandmothers in an unsuccessful try and get their second doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, officers stated Thursday.
Dr. Raul Pino, the director of the Florida Division of Well being in Orange County, told reporters that the ladies had been caught dressing up as “grannies” — “the bonnets, the gloves, the glasses, the entire thing” — on the vaccination web site on Wednesday. He stated he was undecided how they’d managed to get their first doses however famous the neighborhood’s excessive demand for vaccines.
“We’ve not had any lack of prepared arms to get vaccinated,” Pino stated. “We even have folks faking to be previous to be vaccinated.”
The Orange County Sheriff’s Workplace informed NPR over electronic mail that the ladies’s ages are 34 and 44. Florida is at present prioritizing vaccinations for adults 65 and older, well being care personnel and long-term care facility residents and workers.
The dates of delivery on their driver’s licenses didn’t match these they’d used to register for the vaccines, although their names did, in accordance with the Sheriff’s Workplace. Well being division personnel requested the deputies to concern trespass warnings, and no different legislation enforcement motion was taken.
The Sheriff’s Workplace stated it doesn’t have additional details about the incident.
When requested whether or not there have been different circumstances of individuals misrepresenting themselves to attempt to get vaccinated, Pino stated there had been a number of, together with one man who shared the identical title as his aged father.
“As we’re engaged on this technique of making an attempt to maneuver folks rapidly, some folks might squeeze in, so it is in all probability greater than we suspect,” he stated of the precise quantity.
And, noting that vaccines are “the most popular commodity,” he stated officers have elevated safety across the web site to stop related incidents from taking place sooner or later.
Different states have additionally issued warnings in opposition to such plots. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has proposed laws that may make it a criminal offense to offer vaccines to people who find themselves making an attempt to skip the road, and officers in an Indiana county stated earlier this month that as many as 30 folks had lied about their vaccine eligibility in only one weekend, which they known as a “substantial lack of morality.”