Philadelphia Deputy Health Commissioner Dr. Caroline Johnson, has resigned after a report found she falsely gave a vaccine bid advantage to Philly Fighting COVID, the city’s largest vaccine distribution site.
The Philadelphia Inquirer has obtained data showing that Andrei Doroshin, CEO of Philly Fighting COVID, was received by Johnson and has not been disclosed to other health department officials.
PHILADELPHIA SORT COVID-19 VACCINATIONS AFTER TWO-BELTS WITH ‘COLLEGE STUDENTS’ RUNNING DISTRIBUTION
In an email obtained by the publication, Johnson contacted Doroshin in December about a city program that would allow agencies and organizations to request and possibly administer the vaccine.
While the proposal was already publicly posted, health officials were not allowed to selectively encourage individuals to apply for the program.
“[T]These actions were inappropriate because the information shared was not available to all potential applicants, “health department spokesman James Garrow said in a statement accompanying the publication on Saturday. Commissioner has accepted her resignation in the best interests of the city.”
Philly Fighting COVID has filed, along with eight other organizations in the city, although none of the applications have been reviewed at this time, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Doroshin first made headlines when the 22-year-old pitched a $ 2.7 million proposal to the Philadelphia City Council as a way to expand vaccinations across the city, NPR reported Friday.
The 22-year-old CEO had a deal with Philadelphia Department of Public Health and the mayor’s office on Jan. 9 – although the city never signed a contract with Doroshin, they did hand over some of Philadelphia’s assigned vaccine doses.
NYC NURSING HOME RESIDENT WHO WAS REFUSED A VACCINE DIES FROM COVID-19
Philly Fighting COVID became the city’s first mass vaccination clinic earlier this year.
But controversy soon arose around the young CEO after a nurse claimed on Twitter that she saw him take home a “Ziplock bag full of vaccines.”
Doroshin then admitted on the TODAY Show that he had in fact taken home four vaccines and administered them to his friends.
He justified his actions by saying he did not want the vaccines to be lost.
“I support that decision,” he said. ‘I understand I made that mistake. That’s my mistake to carry the rest of my life. But it is not the fault of the organization. ‘
The city has not provided funding for the start of Philly Fighting COVID, and they have not yet allocated money for the program that would allow other organizations in Philadelphia to administer vaccines.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
City officials severed ties with Philly Fighting COVID earlier this week.
The resignation of the deputy health commissioner on Saturday is just the latest debacle as city officials try to tackle the coronavirus pandemic.