Doctor stole vaccine, gave it to friends and family: prosecutor
Updated Jan 22, 2021;
Hasan Kassim Gokal, 48, faces one misdemeanor count of theft by a public servant.
His attorney says Gokal was simply making sure that doses of the vaccine were used rather than allowed to expire.
Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg said Thursday that Gokal, who worked for Harris County Public Health, stole a vial containing nine doses on Dec. 29 while working at a county vaccination site in Humble, about 15 miles northeast of Houston.
He later told a colleague, who reported him, Ogg said in a statement. Gokal was fired after an investigation by the health department, and the case was referred to prosecutors.
Texas doctor stole coronavirus vaccine to give to his family and friends, authorities say
An attorney for Hasan Gokal says the since-fired public-health doctor was making sure unused doses didn’t go to waste.
File photo.(Juan Figueroa / Staff Photographer) Revised with additional details.
A Harris County doctor was fired and faces a criminal charge after authorities say he stole coronavirus vaccine to benefit his family and friends. But his lawyer said Friday that he didn’t give them doses.
Hasan Kassim Gokal, 48, faces one misdemeanor count of theft by a public servant.
Authorities say that on Dec. 29 Gokal stole a vial of the Moderna vaccine that had nine doses in it while working at a county vaccination site in Humble, about 15 miles northeast of Houston.