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Authorizing the Committee of Public Health and Human Services to hold hearings to investigate the City’s vaccine contracting process, including an examination of Philly Fighting COVID’s contract with the City.
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WHEREAS, In April 2020, Philly Fighting COVID, a student-run nonprofit, began its existence manufacturing personal protective equipment for healthcare workers using 3D printers at a warehouse in the Kensington neighborhood; and
WHEREAS, In July 2020, Philly Fighting COVID started to run free testing sites for Philadelphia residents and partnered with other nonprofits to continue promoting the sites; and
WHEREAS, According to WHYY, throughout the fall of 2020, Philly Fighting COVID had built a network of community partners in underserved Latino and Black communities, many of which came to rely on the efficient, low-barrier testing events, for which the group received City funding; and
WHEREAS, The first mass community vaccine clinic opened on January 8, 2021 to begin distributing the COVID-19 vaccine to medical workers. The clinic was being run by Philly Fighting COVID, in partnership with the Philadelphia Department of Public Health; and
WHEREAS, In late January 2021, Philly Fighting COVID immediately suspended all testing pop-ups to focus on vaccine operations, despite announcing that they were going to run the mass vaccination clinic, continue drop-in testing sites, and offer rapid testing for all city residents. This left many community organizations confused and scrambling to secure testing for residents on their own; and
WHEREAS, Philly Fighting COVID received an allocation of the City’s limited vaccine supply and has provided the first COVID-19 vaccine dose to more than 5,000 people before the organization was removed from the City’s vaccine program; and
WHEREAS, The City’s decision to stop working with Philly Fighting COVID was due to the start-up's switch to a for-profit entity and its updated privacy policy, which “could allow the organization to sell data collected through PFC’s pre-registration site.” However, the City said it has no proof any data was sold; and
WHEREAS, It is imperative that the City ensures that its limited vaccine supply is being provided to trustworthy organizations; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, That Council does hereby authorize the Committee of Public Health and Human Services to hold hearings to investigate the City’s vaccine contracting process, including an examination of Philly Fighting COVID’s contract with the City.
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