Health officials are having trouble getting frontline healthcare workers and the Black community to voluntarily roll up their sleeves for experimental Covid-19 mRNA vaccines.
After vaccinating the elderly in nursing homes in NY state, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said that residents in drug rehab facilities run by the state will be get the vaccines next.
Cuomo’s announcement during a Monday press conference sparked speculation that drug addicts will be used as guinea pigs since they are easily accessible in one place.
Cuomo said as much when he noted the “dense living conditions” of the drug rehab facility.
He said drug addicts were being prioritized over nurses and doctors because “That’s where you have a lot of people living in concentration.”
He also announced $1 million in fines and possible jail time in a crackdown on vaccines fraud.
New York health clinics and doctors who fraudulently obtain or distribute coronavirus vaccines will face fines of up to $1 million and revocation of their state licenses.
