The CEO of a 22-year-old company that once worked with the city of Philadelphia to distribute coronavirus vaccines, but now embroiled in controversy, admitted he took some vaccines home and injected his friends.
Andrei Doroshin made the confession Thursday in today’s program in what was his first television interview since the fall of the scandal related to Philly Fighting COVID, a group that once injected vaccines issued by the city . Since then, the city has severed ties after the group failed to reveal that it recently became a for-profit company, after collecting personal information from thousands of residents.
Doroshin defended her decision to inject her friends, despite not being a registered nurse. He told Stephanie Gosk today that he administered four doses that had been left over and were about to expire. Doroshin argued that he and his group made calls looking for high-risk people who qualified for a shooting but could not find anyone.
“I remain in favor of this decision. I understand that I made this mistake. This is my mistake of leading the rest of my life, but it is not a mistake of the organization,” Doroshin said.
City health officials had said Wednesday that an audit of vaccine doses given to Philly Fighting COVID found “no evidence that the vaccine was wasted, stolen or misused.”
The decision by the Philadelphia Department of Public Health to partner with PFC, a 9-month startup, despite having a litany of other options in the hospital’s heavy city, was surprising from the outset.
“Why should we rely on an organization that is less than nine months old, started primarily by students to produce PPE, and not by organizations that have a proven track record in helping people address COVID-19, I stay beyond that.” , said Councilwoman Katherine Gilmore Richardson said. “I’m baffled, I’m dismayed and I’ll never understand how this happened.”
The group never signed a contract with the city before receiving doses of vaccine, because, according to health department spokesman James Garrow, the city did not receive federal funds to distribute the doses. Instead, the city only requires organizations to fill out an interest form before receiving and distributing the vaccine, he said.
The city has refused to make public the registration form that Philly Fighting COVID filled out to start receiving doses.
Initially, the group was testing the coronavirus and moved to the Pennsylvania Convention Center, where they ran vaccination clinics and injected about 7,000 people. But in recent weeks, the health department said the PFC abruptly stopped testing the virus, too, a key component of the partnership.
On January 8, the city actively directed people to the group’s website to “commit in advance” to receiving notifications when they qualified for a vaccine. However, the group only recently issued a privacy policy, following concerns about the sale of people’s personal information, which Doroshin said did not occur and would violate HIPAA rules.
Since then, the city has created its own website and encourages people to sign up.
PFC also began billing companies for instances for vaccines, despite receiving them for free. Doroshin also defended the decision, saying the donations the group received were not enough to cover the running costs of vaccination clinics.
However, reports from WHYY and Billy Penn have indicated that Doroshin embellished her resume and always planned to make a profit. A former PFC volunteer told the media that Doroshin openly boasted of taking the opportunity to become a millionaire.
The group has also been scrutinized for other allegedly poor quality practices.
Katrina Lipinsky, a registered nurse and former PFC volunteer, told NBC10 that she found it “unusual” for the group not to ask for her credentials before allowing her to administer vaccines.
It is now unclear whether Doroshin, who claims to have recently received death threats, will face criminal charges. Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Kraner and Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro are studying the matter.
Several Philadelphia City Council members are also calling for hearings on the partnership between the city and the group.