“Although this organization has successfully vaccinated around 6,900 people, in retrospect, it was a mistake for the Department of Public Health to ask the organization to operate these clinics. As the person in charge of the Department of Public Health, I have ultimate responsibility for this error,” Farley said on Friday in comments prepared at a city council meeting.
The city broke its ties with the PFC 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.
PFC CEO Andrei Doroshin said shortly after the break with Philadelphia that he never hid the group’s intentions to transition to a for-profit business.
“Vaccination of large groups of people requires resources, manpower and, ultimately, financial aid … We always aim to increase the number of clinics to eventually vaccinate more people (we have been working on plans to increase vaccination for months and we have shared them with the city) and money is needed for that, “he said in a statement.
Doroshin told CNN KYW affiliate that he felt he was being used as a “scapegoat” for difficulties with distributing the vaccine.
“The city needs a scapegoat to explain why the vaccine effort failed,” Doroshin told KYW. “They probably think they are embarrassed because a 22-year-old did a better job than they did.”
At the time PFC was hired to operate vaccine clinics at the Philadelphia Convention Center, the organization met all standards met by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Farley said on Friday.
“The Inspector General asked me not to question or request documents from the officials involved, which could interfere with his investigation,” said Farley. “I look forward to the Inspector General’s thorough review answering my own questions about how that decision was made.”
Farley announces operational reforms, admits racial equality concerns
In response to the letter, Farley testified on Friday that the health department reorganized its vaccine distribution group, as well as clinics scheduled and operated to provide second doses to everyone who received their first dose by PFC.
Farley said the department also added a person responsible for racial equity to “strengthen the racial equity emphasis of the vaccine delivery initiative”, allocated additional doses of vaccine to the Black Doctors Covid-19 Consortium and made additional plans to reach underserved communities .
The Philadelphia City Council said in a statement on Saturday that it had introduced legislation to address “deficiencies in how the city’s Department of Health has allowed an unqualified group of non-public health professionals to have access to thousands of doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. for distribution to city residents, “including the introduction of contractual requirements before any vaccine distribution occurs.
Farley also addressed racial disparities in the city’s vaccine distribution effort to date, saying that “the goal of achieving racial equality must be incorporated into all decisions” related to vaccinations.
“If we allowed anyone to receive the vaccine, we would deliver the doses very quickly, but the people who would receive them would probably be the most privileged, with the most resources to get to the front line,” said Farley.
“If we maintained extremely strict restrictions on people who meet the eligibility criteria, requiring extensive documentation, we would decrease the vaccination rate. And any of these options would likely reduce the number of African Americans and minorities who are vaccinated. We will continue to work hard to achieve the right balance between these goals, “added Farley.
CNN’s Anna Sturla, Elizabeth Joseph, Dakin Andone and Samuel Romano contributed to this report.