BAYSIDE, QUEENS — A Bayside COVID-19 vaccine distribution site diluted doses beyond federal recommendations and overcounted shots given to maximize profits, contends a former employee who filed suit against the company this week.
Jamie Zheng accused Centers Urgent Care — a healthcare company that runs Bayside's Korean Community Services (KCS) — of firing him after he discovered the alleged money-saving scheme, New York Supreme Court records show.
Zheng said executives urged employees to over-dilute Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine doses to obtain at least seven doses per vial, in defiance of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines, court records show.
"I have been instructed by supervisors to engage in activities in the workplace that creates a threat to public health and safety," wrote Zheng in an email addressed to a KCS top brass and cited in his lawsuit. "Particularly with the over dilution of Covid vaccine doses at our facility."
Centers Urgent Care leaders sought to cover up vaccine distribution practices in Bayside by, in part, terminating employees who raised concerns, the suit contends.
The lawsuit points to a similar complaint filed last year by Andrew Palazzo, a KCS vaccine administrator who says he was fired after raising concerns about the company's practices.
Reached for comment, the company declined to answer questions...
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