(Newser)
– A Houston doctor fired for allegedly stealing doses of the coronavirus vaccine says he is not the villain that news from around the world makes him look like. Hasan Gokal tells the New York Times that after a nurse punctured an 11-dose bottle to administer a vaccination at an event to vaccinate emergency workers on December 29, he had to figure out what to do with the remaining doses before they expired within hours. Gokal, who oversaw the event, said health workers and local police had refused or had already been vaccinated. He says that after a Harris County official approved his plan to distribute the remaining doses, he started calling people on his contact list on the way home to find eligible recipients.
Gokal says he vaccinated nine people, mostly elderly, including a woman in her 90s, but still had a dose after the final recipient called just before the deadline to say they couldn’t go to his home. He says that, with a few minutes left, he vaccinated his wife, whose pulmonary condition made her eligible. Gokal says he said to her, “I didn’t mean to give this to you, but in half an hour I will have to throw it in the toilet.” He was fired days after telling his supervisor about the vaccines and sending the paperwork. He says the authorities told him that he should have brought the doses back to the office – where they should have expired – or thrown them out. He was accused of stealing $ 135 doses of the vaccine. A judge rejected the charge a few days later, but the local district attorney plans to present it to a grand jury, reports ABC13. The Texas Medical Association has issued a statement of support to physicians who take steps to prevent missed doses. (Read more coronavirus vaccine stories.)