Two women were so desperate to get the still experimental Covid-19 mRNA shots that they dressed up as “grannies” to skip the line.
Florida health officials say the two women aroused suspicion immediately.
“So yesterday, we realized a couple of young ladies came dressed up as grannies to get vaccinated for the second time. So I don’t know how they escaped the first time,” said Dr. Raul Pino, the director of the Florida Department of Health in Orange County, during a press briefing on Thursday.
According to Dr. Pino, the two women showed up to the Orange County Convention Center wearing bonnets, gloves and glasses — “the whole thing,” he said. The women wore disguises to make themselves eligible to receive the vaccination outside of a health care or long-term care facility setting.
The women had valid vaccination cards for their first injections, but there was an issue with their driver’s licenses on the second go ’round.
Their dates of birth “did not match those they had used to register for the vaccines,” said the Orange County Sheriff’s Office in a statement. “The names, however, did match the registration.”
The sheriff’s office identified the women as Olga Monroy-Ramirez, 44, and Martha Vivian Monroy, 34.
The women were not arrested or cited. But security was increased at the vaccination site.
“This is the hottest commodity that is out there right now,” the director said. “So we have to be very careful with the funds and the resources that we are provided.”
