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Philadelphia Assistant Health Commissioner Dr. Caroline Johnson resigned after report revealed she was unfairly giving vaccine auction an advantage to Philly Fighting COVID, the city’s largest vaccine distribution site .
The Philadelphia Inquirer has obtained files revealing special treatment Philly Fighting COVID CEO Andrei Doroshin received by Johnson, undisclosed to other Department of Health officials.
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In an email obtained by the publication, Johnson reached out to Doroshin in December about a city program that allowed agencies and organizations to apply for and potentially administer the vaccine.
Although the proposal has already been released publicly, 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 candidates, ”Health Department spokesman James Garrow said in a statement to the publication on Saturday. The commissioner accepted her resignation in the best interests of the city. “
Philly Fighting COVID submitted a nomination, along with eight other organizations in the city, although none of the nominations have yet been considered, The Philadelphia Inquirer noted.
Doroshin first made headlines when the 22-year-old presented a $ 2.7 million proposal to Philadelphia city council to expand vaccinations citywide, reported NPR Friday.
The 22-year-old CEO had struck a deal with the Philadelphia Department of Public Health and the Mayor’s office on Jan.9 – though the city never signed a contract with Doroshin, they handed over some of the vaccine doses attributed to Philadelphia.
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Philly Fighting COVID became the city’s first mass vaccination clinic earlier this year.
But controversy quickly erupted 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 to the TODAY Show that he actually took four vaccines home and gave them to his friends.
He justified his actions by saying he didn’t want the vaccines to be wasted.
“I stand by this decision,” he said. “I understand I made that mistake. It’s my mistake to bear for the rest of my life. But it’s not the organization’s mistake.”
The city has not provided any funding for the start-up of Philly Fighting COVID and has yet to allocate funds for the program that would allow other organizations in Philadelphia to administer vaccines.
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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.
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