PHILADELPHIA (AP) – When Philadelphia began getting its first batches of COVID-19 vaccines, it seemed to partner with someone who could quickly put a mass vaccination site into operation.
City officials could have looked across the horizon at world-renowned health providers at the University of Pennsylvania, Temple University or Jefferson Health.
Instead, they chose a 22-year-old psychology graduate student with some hesitant startups on their curriculum. And last week, amid concerns over its ratings and the profit status of Philly Fighting COVID, the city closed its operation at the center’s convention center.
“Where were all the people with credentials? Why did a child have to come in to help the city? “The student, Andrei Doroshin, said in an interview with The Associated Press.
“I am a freaking graduate student. But you know what? We did the work. We vaccinated 7,000 people, “the Drexel University student said.” We’ve been doing our part in this crazy time. “
City officials said they gave him the job because he and his friends had organized one of the community groups that created COVID-19 test sites across the city last year. But they closed the vaccine operation once they learned that Doroshin had changed the privacy notice to potentially sell patient data, a development he calls a problem he quickly fixed.
It is unclear when the city will find a new site operator.
“They were doing a reasonably good job of giving the vaccines. Apparently, they decided they were going to get revenue from this information, which was wrong, and we ended our relationship with them, ”Mayor Jim Kenney said at a news conference Tuesday, citing media work. local communication to raise concerns. “And that’s the end.”
Doroshin also admitted that she took four doses of the Pfizer vaccine and administered it to friends, although she is neither a nurse nor a licensed professional. He said he did so only after exhausting other options. An additional 100 doses were set to expire that night and the site was able to gather only 96 eligible recipients, he said.
“They had to go to an arm or be kicked out,” said Doroshin, who said he had already had intramuscular injections. “I felt good ethically. … I have not done anything illegal. “
State and local prosecutors are now raising the issue.
Many believe the situation speaks to a broader point about the health care system, in Philadelphia and across the country.
Public health budgets had been hit hard before the pandemic, leaving local and state governments ill-equipped to develop a mass vaccination program. This left them looking for COVID-19 partners.
“I think there’s a place in our health care system for our innovative partners,” said Julia Lynch, a health policy expert who teaches classes at Penn. “But maybe it’s not the time to experiment with disruptors? Maybe this is the time when we should resort to a healthcare service infrastructure that works like a well-oiled machine? ”
She is also concerned that city data show that only 12% of the city’s vaccines have been targeted at black residents, who make up 42% of the city’s population. She, like others, hoped the work would go to a more established group like the Black Doctors Consortium, which has been testing and vaccinating people in low-income areas of the city this past year.
Lucinda Ayers, 74, had missed the opportunity to book an appointment Feb. 12 through Doroshin’s website at the Pennsylvania Convention Center and wonders if the city shouldn’t have helped her meet it.
“It simply came to our notice then. I’m on the fence, “said Ayers, who has not been lucky enough to find another appointment despite spending hours online.” There is so much lack of clarity about the information coming out. “
Doroshin, while working on his graduate degree, shifted gear from the COVID-19 testing operation to the vaccine when he learned of the city’s need. He said he borrowed $ 250,000 from a family friend for start-up expenses and that the city, through a verbal agreement, gave him a reduction in the supply of vaccines, with the highest priority given to workers in the Health.
He said he agreed to pay $ 1 million to lease the convention center for six months and that he hoped to charge the city $ 500,000 a month once it was fully operational. He hired about 30 people, though at least some of the doctors, nurses and nursing students who did the injections were volunteers, he said.
“I was going to earn a salary,” he said. “In a perfect world, I wanted to vaccinate Philly in six months and then apply for a doctorate.”
Dr. Thomas Farley, the city’s health commissioner, said this week that the group had a good track record, so “we decided to give them the opportunity to run mass clinics and the first mass clinic went go pretty well “.
For the time being, the city is committed to making sure that people who received the first vaccinations there could receive their benefits.
“It certainly shows why we need a real public health system,” said board member Helen Gym, who noted that two private hospitals in the city have closed since 2019, while the city remains one of the few large U.S. cities without a public hospital.
He defined the launch of the aborted vaccine as a “blatant and profound failure.”
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