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 Fake Grannies: 2 women dressed as 'grannies' to get COVID-19 vaccine

  •  Fake Grannies: 2 women dressed as 'grannies' to get COVID-19 vaccine
    Those ages 65 and up are primarily eligible for the vaccine in Florida.  Fake Grannies: 2 women dressed as 'grannies' to get COVID-19 vaccine
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Society
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The women – who turned out to be aged in their 30s and 40s and had “dressed up as grannies” in an effort to get vaccines reserved for vulnerable elderly people – are among a growing number of people trying to cheat or game the system to get early access to scarce shots.

Two women tried disguising themselves as "grannies" in a failed attempt to get a second dose of COVID-19 vaccine, Florida health officials said.

Those ages 65 and up are primarily eligible for the vaccine in Florida.

"So yesterday, we realized a couple of young ladies came dressed up as grannies to get vaccinated for the second time," Dr. Raul Pino, director of the Florida Department of Health in Orange County, said during a press briefing Thursday. "So I don't know how they escaped the first time."

The women showed up to the Orange County Convention Center wearing bonnets, gloves and glasses -- "the whole thing," Pino said. They are in their 30s and 40s, according to the Orange County Sheriff's Office, which would make them ineligible to receive the vaccination outside of a health care or long-term care facility setting.

The two had valid vaccination cards from their first shot, but on their second attempt, there were issues with their driver's licenses, said Pino.

Deputies issued the two women trespass warnings after their dates of birth "did not match those they had used to register for the vaccines," the Orange County Sheriff's Office said 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.

No other law enforcement action was taken, the sheriff's office said, adding, "And we don't have any information about whether they were wearing disguises or how they were dressed."