“Although this organization has successfully vaccinated some 6,900 people, in retrospect it was a mistake on the part of the Department of Public Health to ask the organization to operate these clinics. wrong, ”Farley said in prepared remarks at a city council meeting on Friday.
The city severed ties with PFC amid reports that the nonprofit was transitioning to a for-profit entity. There were also concerns about PFC’s collection and protection of patient data.
PFC CEO Andrei Doroshin said shortly after the hiatus with Philadelphia that he never hid the group’s intentions to move into a for-profit company.
“Vaccinating large groups of people takes resources, manpower and ultimately financial aid … We have always planned to expand the number of clinics to eventually vaccinate more people (we have been working for months on scaling up vaccinations and she shared with the city) and it requires money, ” he said in a statement.
Doroshin told CNN subsidiary KYW that he felt he was being used as a “scapegoat” for problems with vaccine distribution.
“The city needs a scapegoat for why they screwed up the vaccination,” Doroshin told KYW. “They probably think they are ashamed that a 22-year-old did better than her.”
At the time PFC was appointed to run vaccine clinics at the Philadelphia Convention Center, the organization met all the standards the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention met, Farley said Friday.
“The Inspector General has asked me not to request or request any documents from the personnel concerned, which could disrupt his investigation,” Farley said. “I look forward to the Inspector General’s full review to answer my own questions about how this decision was made.”
Farley announces operational reform, acknowledges concerns about racial equality
In response to the letter, Farley testified Friday that the health department has reorganized its vaccine distribution group, as well as planned and operated clinics to provide second doses to anyone who received their first dose via PFC.
Farley said the department has also added a senior racial equality executive to “bolster the vaccine distribution initiative’s emphasis on racial equality,” assigned additional vaccine doses to the Black Doctors Covid-19 Consortium and made additional plans to help disadvantaged communities. reach. .
Philadelphia City Council said in a statement on Saturday that they introduced legislation to address “ shortcomings in how the city’s health department gave an unqualified group of non-public health workers access to thousands of doses of COVID-19 vaccine for distribution to city residents. ” to grab. , “including the introduction of contract requirements before a vaccine is distributed.
Farley has also thus far addressed racial differences in the city’s vaccine distribution, saying that “the goal of achieving racial equality must be built into all decisions” regarding vaccinations.
“If we allowed someone to get a vaccine, we would be administering doses very quickly, but the people who would get them would probably be the most privileged, with the most resources to get to the front of the line,” said Farley.
“If we were to maintain extremely strict restrictions on individuals meeting the eligibility criteria by demanding extensive documentation, we would delay vaccination coverage. And each of these would likely reduce the number of African American and minority individuals who are vaccinated. Continue to work hard to strike the right balance between these goals, ”added Farley.
CNN’s Anna Sturla, Elizabeth Joseph, Dakin Andone and Samuel Romano contributed to this report.