Philadelphia cuts ties with Covid-19 testing and vaccine organization after loss of ‘trust in them’

by

In addition, Philly Fighting COVID (PFC) unexpectedly stopped its Covid-19 testing business to focus on vaccine delivery and turned it from a nonprofit into a for-profit entity – a shift the health department said it heard from local news outlets. .

Concerns were also raised about changes to PFC’s privacy policy that would allow it to sell patients’ data collected through their online registration site, a report from a local news outlet said.

“Trust is the most important thing we have when dispensing vaccines, and we couldn’t ask Philadelphians to trust an outfit we no longer trusted,” James Garrow, a spokesman for the Philadelphia Department of Public Health, told Thursday. CNN. “So we ended the relationship immediately.”

The department announced Tuesday that it “will no longer partner with Philly Fighting COVID to provide tests or deliver vaccines effective immediately,” following local news reports of growing concerns about PFC’s activities.

WHYY, a public news outlet, reported on Jan. 20 that the PFC’s sudden shift to a profitable company to “focus on vaccine operations,” left some communities and residents of Philadelphia tested without warning.
WHY later reported on PFC’s updated privacy policy, Garrow said to the outlet “that the organization could sell data collected through PFC’s pre-registration site,” although the city has no evidence that data was sold. PFC’s CEO has denied ever selling data.
In addition, 22-year-old CEO Andrei Doroshin said in an interview on NBC’s “Today” Thursday that he had taken Covid-19 vaccines intended for eligible recipients and administered them to four of his friends.

Doroshin said he was trying to keep the doses from getting lost and that he couldn’t find anyone else who might need the vaccine more than his friends before they expire.

“Doses were about to end,” he told NBC. “We called everyone we knew. Any person. ‘

CNN has contacted Doroshin but has not heard.

Group vaccinated about 6,800 people

On Tuesday, after the city announced that the PFC would no longer supply vaccines, Doroshin said in a statement that he never hid the group’s intentions to switch to a for-profit company.

“Vaccinating large groups of people takes resources, manpower and ultimately financial assistance … We have always planned to scale up the number of clinics to eventually vaccinate more people (we have been working for months on plans to scale up vaccinations and they shared with the city) and that requires money, ”he said.

Doroshin said his PFC had never had data and would “never sell, share, or distribute it because it violates HIPAA rules,” and that “problematic” language has been removed from the company’s privacy policy.

He also stated that his business was turning from testing to providing vaccines because “we didn’t have enough resources to do both and made a choice to vaccinate as many people as possible as soon as possible because we believe this will be the end of this pandemic is. “

According to the company, approximately 6,800 people received their first of two vaccine doses of PFC. The city’s health department says it will contact anyone who has received those doses to schedule their second dose at a different facility.

Philly Fighting COVID plans to hold a press conference on the matter Friday, the Philadelphia Inquirer said.

Allegations “are serious,” says AG

Philly Fighting COVID was first awarded a contract by the city to provide Covid-19 testing services in August 2020, according to Garrow, the spokesman for the city’s health department. At the time, the group presented itself as a non-profit organization.

Doroshin had previously been the subject of positive coverage, focusing on his group’s initial efforts to use a 3D printer to make face shields for hospital workers before moving on to testing, according to an NBC News report earlier this month.

It was mid-January when the health department heard “rumors of canceled testing events,” but contracted testing providers are allowed to set their own schedules.

The health department later learned through news reports that PFC had canceled all of its testing events in mid-January, despite the group being contracted to provide those services through January 31.

Garrow said Doroshin had “clumsily said” that the group was considering switching to a for-profit entity in early January and was told this would not be a problem as the city has vaccine suppliers working for both profit and nonprofits. . But the health department found that the change took place in December without its knowledge after news outlets informed health officials.

Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner’s office is reviewing allegations against Philly Fighting COVID, a spokeswoman for the office said.

In his own statement, Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro said the allegations “are serious and that any consumers who believe they have been misled should file a complaint with our office,” either by phone or online.

“Taking advantage of people and their privacy under the guise of serving as a nonprofit is not only unethical – it could also violate Pennsylvania law,” Shapiro said.

.Source