The Vaccine Had to Be Used. He Used It. He Was Fired. (Published 2021)
Ten doses of the Covid-19 vaccine would expire within hours, so a Houston doctor gave it to people with medical conditions, including his wife. What followed was “the lowest moment in my life,” Dr. Hasan Gokal said.
www.nytimes.com
I'm getting pretty fucking frustrated reading about vaccines getting wasted. This guy is a hero.The Texas doctor had six hours. Now that a vial of Covid-19 vaccine had been opened on this late December night, he had to find 10 eligible people for its remaining doses before the precious medicine expired. In six hours.
Scrambling, the doctor made house calls and directed people to his home outside Houston. Some were acquaintances; others, strangers. A bed-bound nonagenarian. A woman in her 80s with dementia. A mother with a child who uses a ventilator.
After midnight, and with just minutes before the vaccine became unusable, the doctor, Hasan Gokal, gave the last dose to his wife, who has a pulmonary disease that leaves her short of breath.
For his actions, Dr. Gokal was fired from his government job and then charged with stealing 10 vaccine doses worth a total of $135 — a shun-worthy misdemeanor that sent his name and mug shot rocketing around the globe.
"It was my world coming down," Dr. Gokal said in a telephone interview on Friday. "To have everything collapse on you. God, it was the lowest moment in my life."
mod edit: Please read entire article before posting. He didn't open the vial, it was opened by a nurse for a late-arriving eligible patient, he cleared his intention to get the remaining doses to other vulnerable people with a state health official.
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