Coronavirus Vaccine Scam Alert Issued By NY Attorney General
NEW YORK – New York Attorney General Letitia James issued an alert Monday to warn residents about scams offering early access to a coronavirus vaccine.
The vaccine will not become widely available to the general public in New York for several more months.
Following federal guidelines, New York has begun vaccinating nursing home residents, nursing home staff who regularly interact with patients, and high-risk medical workers. Next on the priority list are long-term care residents and staff and other healthcare workers, then certain essential workers.
When the vaccine is offered to the general population, the state will begin with the people at highest risk for severe COVID-19 symptoms (such as those over 65 years old or with underlying health conditions like cancer or heart disease).
New York has not yet announced a definitive timeline for distribution of a vaccine to any of these later groups.
"Throughout this pandemic, scammers have found ways to victimize the public, with the vaccine distribution process being their latest method for fraud," James said in the announcement.
The AG's warning is about anyone who calls, e-mails, or sends texts offering access to a COVID-19 vaccine, and about online platforms offering similar schemes.
Scammers may impersonate public health officials from organizations such as the Center for Disease Control or the World Health Organization. They may also offer to ship a coronavirus vaccine directly to homes, provide special access to vaccines or clinical trials, or sell special cold storage device for vaccines, the AG said.
Here are tips from the AG's Office to help New Yorkers avoid vaccine-related scams:
Be wary of anyone calling or emailing you with offers of a vaccine and do not give out your Social Security number, personal credit card, or bank account information. No one from a vaccine distributor, health care company, or private insurance company will ask for this information.
If you have health insurance, you should not need to pay anything out of pocket to get the vaccine while the pandemic remains a public health emergency. If you don’t have health insurance, the provider may only charge an administration fee. However, in many instances, you likely will not be required to pay the administration fee.
You can’t pay to put your name on a list to get the vaccine or to get into a vaccine clinical trial.
If you get an e-mail about a COVID-19 vaccine or clinical trial, check the sender’s email domain to make sure it matches the website of the organization sending the e-mail and be wary of clicking on any hyperlinks or providing any login or other personal information.
The Food and Drug Administration has authorized two COVID-19 vaccines for emergency use so far. The Pfizer/BioNTech’s vaccine is authorized for use in individuals 16 years of age and older, while the Moderna vaccine is authorized for use in individuals 18 and older.
If you have doubt about whether a vaccine or clinical trial is real, check with a licensed healthcare provider, the attorney general said.
For up-to-date information pertaining to COVID-19 vaccine approval and distribution in New York, visit: https://covid19vaccine.health.ny.gov. Contact the New York State COVID-19 Hotline at 888-364-3065 for all COVID-19 related questions.
"My office remains committed to rooting out COVID-19 scams, and I encourage the public to report suspected illegal activity to my office," she said.
Scammers commonly exploit real public health concerns and use heightened public fear to prey on consumers and profit from frauds related to those health fears. If a consumer believes they have been the victim of an unlawful activity, they can report these incidents to the OAG.
SEE ALSO: Clinic Accused Of Fraudulently Getting, Giving Coronavirus Vaccine
This article originally appeared on the Peekskill-Cortlandt Patch
