January 22 A doctor in the United States is accused of stealing a bottle of coronavirus vaccine and injecting family and friends.
His lawyer argued that the doctor just didn’t want to see the vaccine “wasted”.
Hassan Gokar is 48 years old and works in Harris County, Texas, Public Health.
He was accused of stealing a bottle of “damaged” vaccine while working at a vaccination station on December 29 last year.
The bottle of vaccine is manufactured by Moderna Company in the United States and has a capacity of nine doses.
The prosecution said that Gocar took the vaccine to a total of nine family and friends, including his wife.
Gocar revealed the incident to a colleague earlier this month, who reported it to his superiors.
The Harris County Public Health Department fired Gocar after an internal investigation.
The Associated Press reported that authorities determined that Gocar violated the rules and that vaccines damaged bottles but still available should be vaccinated against people at high risk of infection.
In addition, poor vaccine management will cause Harris County to lose the relevant allocation.
In a statement, prosecutors said that Gocar “uses his work to put friends and family above those who arrived there (vaccination stations) in accordance with legal procedures” and that his actions were illegal and would be punished by law.
Gocar’s lawyer issued a statement on the 21st, saying that Gocar “ensuring that the coronavirus vaccine is used on people who meet the standards rather than allowing it to expire”.
Gocar faces charges of theft and, if convicted, is punishable by up to one year’s imprisonment and a fine of $4,000.
The United States, the country with the worst coronavirus epidemic in the world, began vaccination in mid-December last year.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as of the 21st of this month, the number of vaccinateds was less than 18 million.
According to media reports, the supply of vaccines in many parts of the United States is in short supply, and some places even cancel the vaccinations that have been scheduled.
The new president Joseph Biden, who took office on the 20th, plans to achieve 100 million vaccinations within 100 days of taking office.
