Deputy Health Commissioner resigns following ‘Philly Fighting Covid’ test and vaccine gap

Deputy Health Commissioner resigns following ‘Philly Fighting Covid’ test and vaccine gap

by
The city severed ties with PFC yesterday amid reports that the nonprofit has shifted to a for-profit venture. There were also concerns about the collection and protection of patients for PFC.

Acting Deputy Health Commissioner Dr Caroline Johnson allegedly gave two Covid-19 vaccine vendors, PFC and the Black Doctors Covid-19 Consortium, information that was ‘not available to all potential applicants’ for a request for proposal. James Garrow, director of communications at the Department of Public Health, said in a statement to CNN on Saturday.

“When he received this information, Dr. Johnson submitted her resignation,” Garrow said. “While these actions may be intended to advance the City’s efforts to distribute vaccines, the health commissioner has accepted her resignation in the best interests of the city.”

Johnson’s behavior will also be reviewed by the city’s inspector general, Garrow said.

CNN contacted Johnson and the organizations for comment.

PFC, led by 22-year-old CEO Andrei Doroshin, has been under scrutiny over the past few weeks. The group, which initially presented itself as a non-profit organization, according to Garrow, received a contract from Philadelphia to provide the testing services of Covid-19.

According to the health department, PFC canceled its test events in mid-January, despite a contract to provide services until January 31.

WHY, a public news agency reported on January 20 that the PFC’s sudden move to a profitable venture to “focus on vaccine operations” had left some Philadelphia communities and residents without any warning.
WHY later reported on PFC’s updated privacy policy, which Garrow said could allow the organization to sell data collected through PFC’s pre-registration website, even though the city has no evidence that data was sold.
Can the advent of new coronavirus variants scare Americans for better pandemic behavior?

Doroshin denied that PFC ever sold any data, saying the group was in advance with the city about its need to move to a profitable venture to keep pace with expanding resources and staff.

Philadelphia announced Tuesday that it will no longer supply vaccines to PFC. Doroshin blamed the fallout at the feet of the city on Friday.

“The city needs a scapegoat for why they campaigned,” Doroshin told CNN’s subsidiary KYW. “They probably think they’m ashamed because a 22-year-old did a better job than they did.”

In a statement on PFC’s website, before Johnson resigned, Doroshin also called for the replacement of Dr. Thomas Farley, Philadelphia Health Commissioner.

“Here’s what we as a city need to do to defeat this terrible disease. Put Dr. Johnson in charge of this effort,” Doroshin said.

“She’s smart, more than capable, passionate and fearless. She and her team were amazing and we got it off the ground together. Was it perfect? ​​Hell no, but we have no time for that. We’re in a war. “And we have to learn right away. But our results speak for themselves – we vaccinated 6800 people in 5 days.”

Jim Kenney, Mayor of Philadelphia, instructed the Department of Health to take several corrective steps and compile a report on the failed partnership with PFC, outlining how it began working with the group and the weaknesses in investigation process has been identified.

Elizabeth Joseph, Dakin Andone, Laura Ly, Tanika Gray, Patrick Cornell and Samuel Romano of CNN contributed to this report.

.Source