2021/01/29 20:15 Andrei Doroshin, 22, poses for a portrait, Thursday, Jan. 28, 2021, in Washington. Philadelphia officials have shut down a COVID-19 vaccine clinic aft. Andrei Doroshin, 22, poses for a portrait, Thursday, Jan. 28, 2021, in Washington. Philadelphia officials have shut down a COVID-19 vaccine clinic after concerns grew about Dorshin, the 22-year-old graduate student running the effort. Drexel University psychology student Andrei Doroshin said he pitched a plan to the city to run the online registry and operate the clinic when he saw no one else doing it. Mayor Jim Kenney said he was concerned by reports they could try to sell patient data and profit from the operation. ( Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
Jacquelyn Martin / AP
When Philadelphia began getting its first batches of COVID-19 vaccines, it looked to partner with someone who could get a mass vaccination site up and running quickly.
City Hall officials might have looked across the skyline to the world-renowned health providers at the University of Pennsylvania, Temple University or Jefferson Health.
Instead, they chose a 22-year-old graduate student in psychology with a few faltering startups on his resume. And last week, amid concerns about his qualifications and Philly Fighting COVID s for-profit status, the city shuttered his operation at the downtown convention center.
“Where were all the people with credentials? Why did a kid have to come in and help the city? said the student, Andrei Doroshin, in an interview with The Associated Press.
“Where were all the people with credentials? Why did a kid have to come in and help the city? said the student, Andrei Doroshin, in an interview with The Associated Press.
“I’m a freaking grad student. But you know what? We did the job. We vaccinated 7,000 people,” the Drexel University student said. “This was us doing our part in this crazy time.”
City officials said they gave him the task because he and his friends had organized one of the community groups that set up COVID-19 testing sites throughout the city last year. But they shut the vaccine operation down once they learned that Doroshin had switched his privacy notice to potentially sell patient data, a development he calls a glitch that he quickly fixed.
Philadelphia’s problematic COVID-19 vaccine rollout raises larger questions
Updated Jan 29, 2021;
Story by Maryclaire Dale, Associated Press
PHILADELPHIA (AP) When Philadelphia began getting its first batches of COVID-19 vaccines, it looked to partner with someone who could get a mass vaccination site up and running quickly.
City Hall officials might have looked across the skyline to the world-renowned health providers at the University of Pennsylvania, Temple University or Jefferson Health.
Instead, they chose a 22-year-old graduate student in psychology with a few faltering startups on his resume. And last week, amid concerns about his qualifications and Philly Fighting COVID’s for-profit status, the city shuttered his operation at the downtown convention center.
Instead, they chose a 22-year-old graduate student in psychology with a few faltering startups on his résumé. And last week, amid concerns about his qualifications and Philly Fighting Covid’s for-profit status, the city shuttered his operation at the downtown convention center.
“Where were all the people with credentials? Why did a kid have to come in and help the city?” said the student, Andrei Doroshin, in an interview with the Associated Press.
“I’m a freaking grad student. But you know what? We did the job. We vaccinated 7,000 people,” the Drexel University student said. “This was us doing our part in this crazy time.”