Dozens of workers who are not in healthcare were allowed to get COVID-19 vaccines at four pop-up sites in Los Angeles that were intended to be exclusively for healthcare workers, the Los Angeles Times reported.
At one site in South Los Angeles, a Times reporter reported that about 100 people got the vaccine without showing proof they worked in the healthcare industry.
Several sites began administering the vaccines without requiring proof of employment in the healthcare field. Word had spread by text and email that the sites weren't verifying credentials, and emails sent originally to healthcare workers were being forwarded multiple times to friends and family, allowing them access to a portal to sign up for vaccinations, the Times reported.
By Jan. 5, it appeared the vaccination sites had begun requiring a photo ID and documentation of a healthcare job, the Times reported. It's unclear how many workers who are not in healthcare were vaccinated at the sites.
"There’s a gross amount of fraud. We have people throwing street temper tantrums because they’re not getting their way, and it’s worked for them in the past," a worker administering COVID-19 vaccines at one of the sites told the Times.
One woman told the Times she was asked when she was registering to receive the vaccine and when she arrived at the vaccination site if she was a healthcare worker and said "no" both times, but still was given a shot.
"I did not say anything that was untrue, and I didn’t hold myself out as anything that I wasn’t. I was simply an old lady with a breathing disorder, and they said, ‘OK, we’ll shoot you up!" she said.
Read the full article here.