Deputy health commissioner quits after ‘Philly Fighting Covid’ test and vaccine breach

Deputy health commissioner quits after ‘Philly Fighting Covid’ test and vaccine breach

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The city severed relations with the PFC on Tuesday amid reports that the non-profit organization has moved to a for-profit entity. There were also concerns about PFC patient data collection and protection practices.

Dr. Caroline Johnson, acting deputy health commissioner, is believed to have given two vaccine suppliers Covid-19, PFC and Black Doctors Covid-19 Consortium, information that “was not available to all potential candidates” for a request for proposal The director of communications for the Philadelphia Department of Public Health, James Garrow, told CNN in a statement on Saturday.

“Upon receiving this information, Dr. Johnson presented her resignation,” said Garrow. “Although these actions may aim to help advance the city’s vaccine distribution effort, the health commissioner accepted her resignation in the city’s best interest.”

Johnson’s conduct will also be analyzed by the city’s inspector general, Garrow said.

CNN is contacting Johnson and the organizations for comment.

The PFC, led by CEO Andrei Doroshin, 22, has been under scrutiny in recent weeks. The group, which initially introduced itself as a nonprofit organization, received a contract from Philadelphia to provide Covid-19 testing services in August, according to Garrow.

The health department said it learned that PFC canceled its test events in mid-January, despite having a contract to provide services until January 31.

WHYY, a public media outlet, reported on January 20 that the sudden shift from PFC to a for-profit business to “focus on vaccine operations” left some communities and residents of Philadelphia untested without prior notice.
WHYY later reported on PFC’s updated privacy policy, which Garrow told the channel “could allow the organization to sell data collected through the PFC’s pre-registration website”, although the city has no evidence that the data was sold.
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Doroshin denied that PFC had sold any data and says the group was open with the city about its need to move to a for-profit company to keep up with the expansion of resources and personnel.

Philadelphia announced on Tuesday that it will no longer supply PFC vaccines. Doroshin on Friday blamed the city for the negative consequences.

“The city needs a scapegoat to explain why they failed the vaccine effort,” said Doroshin to KYW, a CNN affiliate. “They probably think they are embarrassed because a 22-year-old did a better job than they did.”

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

“Here is what we must do as a city to overcome this terrible disease. First, put Dr. Johnson in charge of this effort,” said Doroshin.

“She is smart, more than capable, passionate and fearless. She and her team have been wonderful and we, together, got this off the ground. Was it perfect? ​​Of course not, but we don’t have time for this. We are at war and we have to learn on the spot. But our results speak for themselves – we vaccinated 6,800 people in 5 days. “

Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney instructed the health department to take a number of corrective measures and produce a report on the failed PFC partnership, detailing how it came to work with the group and identifying weaknesses in the verification process.

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

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