What to know
- The Philadelphia Department of Public Health says it has ended its partnership with Philly Fighting COVID, an organization that oversaw the city’s largest coronavirus vaccination site, after learning that the group has become profitable and changed its data policy to allow possible user sales. training.
- Philadelphia health officials announced a “unique public / private partnership” with Philly Fighting COVID on January 8 and encouraged Philadelphia to “begin the vaccine registration process” by signing up on the Philly Fighting COVID website.
- On Monday night, however, the Department of Public Health announced that it learned that the PFC had updated its data privacy policy after “a change in its corporate status … from non-profit to for-profit”, which could allow the organization to sell data through its pre-registration site.
The Philadelphia Department of Public Health says it has ended its partnership with Philly Fighting COVID, an organization that oversaw the city’s largest coronavirus vaccination site, after learning that the group has become profitable and changed its data policy to allow possible user sales. training.
Philadelphia health officials announced a “unique public / private partnership” with Philly Fighting COVID on January 8 and encouraged Philadelphia to “begin the vaccine registration process” by signing up on the Philly Fighting COVID website.
On Monday night, however, the Department of Public Health announced that it learned that PFC had updated its data privacy policy after “a change in its corporate status … from non-profit to for-profit”.
The updated policy may allow the organization to sell data through its pre-registration website, the city said.
“The city has not been notified of the sale of any of these data. But for the PFC to have made these changes without discussion with the city, it is extremely worrying, ”wrote a spokesman for the health department. “As a result of these concerns, along with the unexpected interruption of PFC testing operations, the Department of Health has decided to stop providing PFC vaccine.”
Previously, WHYY reported that Philly Fighting COVID suspended the promised community tests to focus on vaccines, leaving some neighborhoods isolated.
Finding out where and with whom to register for a vaccine has been confusing in Pennsylvania, where counties are running their own programs and other providers, including healthcare systems, are also offering vaccines to certain high-risk groups.
Last week, the city launched its own new website that allows people to sign up to be notified when a coronavirus vaccine is made available to them.
Earlier that week, health commissioner Dr. Thomas Farley said the city was receiving information about who was being vaccinated through Philly Fighting COVID (PFC), but added that it was not receiving any information other than that. The Health Department later said it was working with the PFC, along with the Black Doctor’s COVID-19 Consortium and Acme “to ensure that the information these groups have collected is added to the city’s database.”
The Health Department said it is currently working on transferring future vaccine allocations to other suppliers. They are also programming new clinics to ensure that people who have been vaccinated at PFC clinics at the Pennsylvania Convention Center can receive their second dose. The Department will contact all of these people to arrange meetings.
If you are unsure where to apply for the coronavirus vaccine, see our guide on when and where to get the vaccine.