A Philadelphia graduate student whose startup had struck a deal with the city to administer COVID-19 vaccines admitted he took doses home and injected friends.
Andrei Doroshin, 22, confessed he pocketed vaccines for personal use on NBC's "TODAY" show Thursday morning, per the New York Post.
"I stand by that decision. I understand that I made that mistake," said Doroshin, a graduate student at Drexel University. "That is my mistake to carry for the rest of my life, but it is not the mistake of the organization."
Doroshin's organization, Philly Fighting COVID, had secured an agreement with Philadelphia officials to inject vaccines until this week, when the deal was canceled after it was learned the group changed its status from non-profit to for-profit, per The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Saying he had no medical training, Doroshin admitted he injected friends with four doses that had been left over and were about to expire.
He claimed an attempt had been made to find high-risk people who qualified for a shot, but none were found.
Photos circulated on Snapchat on Saturday night appearing to show Doroshin about to administer a syringe, sources told WHYY.
That same day, a nurse working at the site claimed to have witnessed Doroshin putting vials into his bag — even as elderly citizens were turned away.
The Inquirer reported Doroshin said he had used his own money and donations to fund Philly Fighting COVID. He said the group budgeted $2.7 million to build five vaccination sites that would inoculate 10,000 patients daily.
Doroshin told city council members of a committee on public health and human services in November that his group "was created to help low-income communities with access to free medical care and testing."
However, nobody asked Doroshin about his group's health-care expertise. He guaranteed his group, consisting of himself and college friends, would handle the major task.
Now, Doroshin claims he's the victim.
"We did the job and what we promised. The only thing that got in the way was city politics," Doroshin told the Inquirer in a text message. "We did what we said we would. After that, why do my credentials matter?"