Chicago city officials will stop providing one private company with COVID-19 vaccines, accusing it of having “knowingly misallocated” thousands of doses.
The Chicago Department of Public Health on Tuesday said Innovative Express Care gave 6,000 doses contracted to go to Chicago Public Schools employees to non-Chicago Public Schools patients. As a result, the city will no longer provide vaccines to the company that had been operating four vaccination centers at high schools across the city, officials said.
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The leaders of Innovative Express Care pushed back on the claim that the shots were misallocated, saying in a statement that their goal was to have “a 100% utilization rate,” which meant that “every single dose we received was put into the arm of a qualified patient that week.”
“Clearly, we took this idealistic vision very seriously, which meant that doses intended for CPS employees actually went to seniors, frontline essential workers, and other qualified patients. We never departed from the commitment to CPS employees, nor other qualified individuals,” the statement added, saying the Department of Public Health’s decision left them “bewildered, saddened, and frankly disappointed in our local government.”
The company added, “CDPH officials never made it clear to us as a provider that we should be storing vaccines in a refrigerator for people awaiting second doses,” but the $5 million contract the two sides agreed to in February said, the “vendor shall only use COVID-19 vaccines provided by CDPH at the COVID-19 Vaccination Centers for individuals identified by CPS as eligible to receive COVID-19 vaccines,” according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
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“We are deeply concerned by the allegations involving Innovative Express, and are committed to a smooth transition that ensures minimal disruption for staff,” Chicago Public Schools spokesman Michael Passman said in a statement.
The city has already contracted another partner, Chicago Internal Medical Practice and Research, which will start running the district-run vaccination sites Thursday.
The Chicago Public Schools system and the Chicago Teachers Union have fought for months as to the steps that need to be taken before in-person learning can restart in the city. The union has repeatedly balked at plans from officials saying they do not sufficiently keep teachers safe from the coronavirus.
