ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — The Orange County Sheriff's Office released bodycam footage Friday of two women accused of dressing up like "grannies" to illicitly get a second COVID-19 vaccine.
What You Need To Know
- Two women dressed up like "grannies" tried to get their second COVID-19 vaccine dose Wednesday
- Workers at the Orange County Convention Center, though, saw through their disguises and refused to give them the shots
- Related: Official: 2 People Dressed as "Grannies" to Get COVID Vaccine
Two younger women, aged 34 and 44, “came dressed up as grannies” to the Orange County Convention Center on Wednesday to try to get COVID vaccinations, health official Dr. Raul Pino said Thursday.
“The bonnets, the gloves, the glasses, the whole thing,” Pino said at an Orange County coronavirus news briefing.
The women were seeking their second coronavirus shots, he said.
Pino said he lacked details on how they could have gotten first dosages but said the women carried valid Centers for Disease Control and Prevention vaccination cards on Wednesday.
Michael Jones, who was visiting Orlando, reacted to the video of the women Friday with a snicker.
“In Atlanta we haven’t seen anything that hilarious," he said.
In body camera video the Orange County Sheriff's Office released Friday, deputies are seen scolding the two women, who are wearing clothing items viewed as stereotypical for older woman.
“Do you know what you have done? You’ve stolen a vaccine from somebody that needs it more than you,” one deputy told the pair in the video.
Jones says while it’s upsetting to see someone try to cheat the system, he’s not surprised.
“I mean to me the vaccine is moving slow, a lot slower than what it should be," he said. "And people are starting to get desperate."
At the request of the Florida Department of Health, Orange County Sheriff’s deputies gave the women a trespass warning, and told them they would be arrested if they ever came back to the Convention Center.
“This one didn’t come up in law school,” said Orlando attorney David Haas.
He says it’s a bizarre case for sure, but not necessarily a serious crime thanks to the fact that the vaccines are being administered for free.
“Unless they use some sort of stolen ID, or if there’s a fake ID or something like that to prove their age … I don’t see some kind of criminal activity here,” Haas said.
He did add, though, that just because it wasn’t criminal, doesn’t mean it wasn’t immoral or unethical.
Jones says he and his wife want the vaccine just as much as anyone, but they’re willing to wait.
He worries that people will get even more desperate if the vaccine rollout continues to go at its current pace.
“It’s gonna be even worse if things don’t change in the next month or so ... they might try to start stealing vaccines at some point," Jones said.
Health department said the women's botched attempt to get vaccines caused them to enhance screening for the vaccines, and the Convention center is going to assign more security personnel to the site.