Defiant-Ad412 t1_j25owjj wrote on December 29, 2022 at 9:09 PM

Reply to comment by worriedaboutlove in Philly Fighting COVID founder sues Drexel University for expelling him after vaccine scandal by Dryheavemorning

Which POC are you referring to were passed off.

And why do you assume the only reason he was selected because he’s white? Do you have insight on the selection process? Or are you just making assumptions?

worriedaboutlove t1_j2684dr wrote on December 29, 2022 at 11:18 PM

Here you go:

https://whyy.org/transcript-watch-a-mans-feet-half-vaxxed/

In this transcript, you'll see a bit of the story about Dr. Ala Stanford, who is actually a doctor that has been working in Philly's low income Black communities, and how the City opted to select Andrei's fraudulent organization instead. I'm going to assume in good faith that you don't remember how this went down, given it was some time ago.

So, my question to you, is why would a 23 year old with no medical credentials and no history of successfully running a public health campaign be selected to be the distributor of vaccines for Philly's Department of Public Health, when there were actual doctors asking the city for those same resources?

Defiant-Ad412 t1_j26csqh wrote on December 29, 2022 at 11:50 PM

I don’t know why a 23 YO was selected, but the article doesn’t site a reason why other than AS’s assumption

> AS: I think some of it was just comfort, you know? And I don’t know that people will openly admit or say that, but some people are just more comfortable working with white men. He was familiar, he looked like someone’s son, he looked like someone’s nephew, and, you know, that’s why.

Who is she even saying is more comfortable working with white people?

Nothing about that article explains the selection process. It was mostly about black people needing to be prioritized first. Maybe she should have prioritize those at the highest risk of serious complications, like the elderly and immune compromised. But her entire emphasize is strictly on the black community. Maybe the city didn’t want somebody who was outspoken about focusing on skin color with regard to the disease. There are plenty of white tradespeople and laborers who are considered essential, but ig they don’t matter? Ig the disease effects blacks people differently than white people? Targeting the most at-risk should have been the goal, regardless of race.

Maybe he proposed a plan that made sense. But you wouldn’t know because the article doesn’t talk at all about his proposal/plans that he submitted.

worriedaboutlove t1_j26foov wrote on December 30, 2022 at 12:10 AM

There was no verifiable selection process that pointed to why Philly Fighting COVID was selected. That was part of the problem.

Secondly, it has been proven, ad nauseum at this point, that Black (and Brown) communities suffered the greatest due to comorbidities and having front line jobs that exposed them to more COVID, plus Black folks make up just about 44% of the city, followed by Latinos at 16% and Asians at 8%. Meaning, focusing on the 68% of the city that were at higher risk of severe outcomes - which is most of the city, at this point - makes sense.

You are being intentionally obtuse about the reasons why a completely unqualified 23 year old white man would be given this opportunity (hint: his corrupt city council connections, for one - which you can also read about). There are plenty of resources from the Philly Inquirer regarding Philly Fighting COVID, the fraud, the "selection process" and so on. Please do go find them. What I shared is one article, that references an entire documentary. Go watch that.

I'm recalling that you responded to my post initially to essentially say "not all white people". Given where this conversation has gone, it makes sense that derailing is your primary concern. Your goal in engaging in this conversation wasn't to learn more, it was to defiantly(per your username) deny the role of race, and, adjacently, wealth/access in one of the largest public health department scandals of this decade and create whataboutisms as if we're not talking about a man who is currently under investigation for insurance fraud, for giving vaccines to family and friends when thousands were dying, for allowing residents to be injected with vaccines by whomever he deemed qualified to do so, selling personal data, etc. etc. - the list goes on. This man is a criminal and is a bad person and is now saying the consequences he is facing for his very well documented crimes is because he is Russian-American, while at the same time receiving a very long benefit of the doubt, and as I mentioned above, assumed credibility and competence that is often afforded to white men in this country. That's another thing you can go read about. And, your knee-jerk response is, effectively, "not all white people" and/or "he could have had his reasons".

Defiant-Ad412 t1_j26z91p wrote on December 30, 2022 at 2:32 AM

Targeting people because of their skin color doesn’t directly target those that need it the most, and excludes those who need it. Vaccines werent widely available at that time, so an efficient manner of distributing that to those on the front lines and at-risk individuals was what was important. Nothing at all to do with race and there are much better ways to address the black community, rather than going around saying they’re the priority. AS could have had a unified message to target those at risk and encourage black people to get vaccinated.

You might mot remember, but there was a time the city didn’t have enough vaccines to vaccinate 68% of the population. So just vaccinating 68% without any consideration for an individuals need makes no sense and comes off extremely discriminatory and racist.

A large issue that was briefly addressed in your article was black peoples distrust of the vaccine. Which today really doesn’t make any sense. The vaccination clinics had white people getting jabbed 10 feet from black people. This isnt the Tuskegee experiments. That should have been a focus of hers, not just handing out vaccines based on skin color. People get too focused on giving statistics, but dont understand the actual issues nor do they look for actual solutions that make sense. Instead of saying “prioritize black people” ask why are they dying the most? Who exactly is it in that community? What are the specific reasons and how do we address that to TARGET THOSE MOST AT RISK? You said it yourself, frontline workers. So focus on those specific groups. Develop a plan for identifying those individuals and move on from there. When you just look at race stats, you miss soooo much of the bigger picture.

The goal of your comment was to derail the topic at hand and the crimes he committed, and turn it into a race issue. Quit making assumptions about everything and assuming your unverified conspiracies are truth. Not everything is about race. The world is filled with corrupt individuals, who are out for THEMSELVES more than their race. Theyre trying to benefit themselves and their family, not some random white person they never met. Thats how the world has evolved to where it is today. Corrupt people finding success being corrupt, and alot of people regardless of race face the consequences.

You’re clearly the type who thinks everything that happens to any black person happens because they’re black. Bringing up corruption by city council and you claim that thats why he received the contract despite most of city council members being black. and despite that this kid isnt even from the city. Who did he have connections with exactly? You have no idea, and are just making more baseless allegations.

And my username was from Reddit. So like your previous assumption, you jump to another assumption on MY selection process and how I selected it.