Florida is investigating accusations that a nursing home in the state offered COVID-19 vaccines to board members and wealthy donors, alongside its own nursing home residents and staff, Gov. Ron DeSantis said Jan. 7, according to the South Florida Sun Sentinel.
MorseLife Health System operates a nursing home and assisted-living facility in West Palm Beach, Fla. Instead of preserving its federal vaccine allotment for nursing home residents and staff members as intended by the U.S. government, MorseLife CEO Keith Myers allegedly offered the vaccine to board members and longtime donors, several people who said they had been offered the vaccine told the The Washington Post.
"He asked me if I wanted to have a vaccine," Ryna Greenbaum, 89, told the Post of a voicemail she received from Mr. Myers last week. "I'm one of the people who has given him some money."
It was not immediately clear how many doses were offered or administered to these individuals. Mr. Myers did not respond to multiple requests for comment, the Post reported.
Mr. DeSantis said the state launched an investigation into the allegations as "as soon as we found out about it," according to the Sun Sentinel. Both the Florida Department of Health and Florida Inspector General Melinda Miguel were looking into the incident, Mr. DeSantis said.
News of the state investigation comes shortly after Florida Sen. Rick Scott called for a "full Congressional investigation" into the allegations in a Jan. 7 statement.
"It is absolutely disgusting and immoral that anyone would take vaccines intended for nursing home residents to distribute them to their friends," Mr. Scott said. "This type of gross mismanagement will not be tolerated, and those responsible must be held accountable."