Dr. Hasan Gokal defended his decision to distribute COVID-19 vaccines that were about to expire, even after he was fired from his job as medical director of the Harris County Department of Public Health in Texas because of the decision.
The Houston doctor said he had an open bottle with 10 doses of Moderna’s vaccine that were ready to expire on that day in December 2020, when, instead of wasting them, he ran to find people who could take them. He was later dismissed, accused of theft by a public official and accused of violating county protocols by the public prosecutor. Later, a judge dismissed the charges.
Gokal spoke with the co-hosts of “The View” on Wednesday to share his side of the story and discuss his reasoning behind the decision.
Moderna vaccines have a shelf life of six hours, once the vials are opened. With time running out, Gokal said he went around asking his team if anyone needed to be vaccinated, but nobody there wanted or needed it.
“In the absence of other options, I contacted people I thought would be eligible or who would know someone who would be eligible,” he told “The View.”
Gokal said he only arranged for people to receive the doses after “having an argument” with “one of Harris County directors” to “make sure they knew” what he was going to do.
All people who received the doses met the eligibility guidelines, meeting a variety of criteria, from age to health problems that could cause a more serious case of COVID-19, he said. The day after Gokal gave the injections, he said he handed over the appropriate paperwork and explained what he did, but was fired a week later.
“I didn’t think it was real. I just thought there was a misunderstanding,” said Gokal. “From a moral perspective, from the perspective of doing the right thing, I did what I believe was expected.”
In a January 21 press release from Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg, she said that a week had passed before “he told a Harris County Public Health official, who then reported him to supervisors “.
Gokal said he was not only following his own intuition, but also guidance from the Texas State Department of Health Services. He said the agency advised him not to waste any doses of the vaccine and “give it to any eligible person who can”, when appropriate.
He also said he administered doses of the vaccine on the first day that Harris County began vaccinating the public.
“We had no precedence for that,” said Gokal. “However, over time, we take precedence. We know that people are learning. They are doing the right thing across the country.”
“There is hope,” he added. “We are learning and starting to do better every day.”
Among those who received the doses about to expire of the vaccine was his wife, who has pulmonary sarcoidosis. Gokal said that “it was not an easy decision” to give him the dose and that he “had no intention of giving it to him to start”.
“The 10 people I had scheduled to receive that night were not family, not even friends,” said Gokal. “They were known and people who knew them.”
Gokal said he decided to give his wife a dose when he realized that the last person scheduled to receive her did not show up and it was about 20 minutes before the vaccine expired. Gokal felt that he “had no choice,” he said.
“Although I know that my wife was very eligible – in fact, probably more than many of the others who did – the reality is that I wanted to make sure that we did things right,” said Gokal.
“I had every intention of giving her the vaccine in a moment [that was] appropriate, through the appropriate channels, “he added.” But look, I have a vaccine … and I have someone who is highly eligible for it here, even though she is my own wife. “
Gokal said his wife was “in and out of the hospital” due to her condition and chest surgery.
When it came time to give the vaccine, Gokal said his wife “looked at me and said, ‘Is this the right thing to do?’ I said, ‘Honey, this is absolutely the right thing to do.’ “
Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg said her office still plans to take the case to a jury, according to The New York Times.
“He abused his position to put his friends and family in front of people who had gone through the legal process to be there,” said Ogg in the January 21 press release. “What he did was illegal and he will be held accountable to the law.”
The Texas Medical Association and the Harris County Medical Society released a statement earlier this month in support of doctors like Gokal, who are fighting “to avoid wasting the vaccine in a perforated bottle”.
“The story involves much more than just a doctor trying to take advantage of a situation and give it to friends and family,” said Gokal. “That is not what happened.”
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