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Wealthy couple chartered a plane to the Yukon, took vaccines doses meant for Indigenous elders, authorities said

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A former "Paramedic of the Year" in Florida is facing charges after authorities say he helped a supervisor steal doses of the COVID-19 vaccine that were meant for firefighters.

Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd held a news conference Tuesday to announce the arrest of 31-year-old Joshua Colon.

Judd said Colon had been given three vials of the Moderna vaccine containing 10 doses each to administer to other first responders.

But a fire captain went to Colon and told them he wanted some of the vaccines for his mother, and Colon set three aside so the captain could take them, Judd said.

Colon later falsified paperwork and created fake names and even email addresses of firefighters who he claimed he had given the vaccine, Judd said.

When a supervisor noticed discrepancies in the paperwork, Colon admitted he had falsified it, Judd said.

"Joshua tried to cover for the captain, Joshua set up the circumstance for the vaccines to have been stolen," Judd said. "Had Joshua simply gone to his boss right then, he'd have been the hero. But instead he started falsifying paperwork, making up people who didn't exist to cover it up."

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Two Florida women disguised themselves as elderly grandmothers in an unsuccessful attempt to get their second doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, officials said Thursday.

Dr. Raul Pino, the director of the Florida Department of Health in Orange County, told reporters that the women were caught dressing up as "grannies" — "the bonnets, the gloves, the glasses, the whole thing" — at the vaccination site on Wednesday. He said he was not sure how they had managed to get their first doses but noted the community's high demand for vaccines.

"We haven't had any lack of willing arms to get vaccinated," Pino said. "We also have people faking to be old to be vaccinated."

The Orange County Sheriff's Office told NPR over email that the women's ages are 34 and 44. Florida is currently prioritizing vaccinations for adults 65 and older, health care personnel and long-term care facility residents and staff.

The dates of birth on their driver's licenses did not match those they had used to register for the vaccines, though their names did, according to the Sheriff's Office. Health department personnel asked the deputies to issue trespass warnings, and no other law enforcement action was taken.

The Sheriff's Office said it does not have further information about the incident.