New York Company Accused Of 'Over Diluting' COVID-19 Vaccines

KEY POINTS

A former employee claims a Queens vaccination site has over diluted its COVID-19 vaccines
16,000 doses were allegedly tampered
The health care company denies the accusations

A health care company is being sued by a former employee for allegedly ordering vaccinators to over dilute vaccines.

Andrew Palazzo, who was fired by Centers Urgent Care, filed a lawsuit against the company for allegedly asking vaccinators at one of its locations to over dilute over 16,000 Pfizer vaccine doses, CBS New York reported.

Centers Urgent Care runs several vaccinations sites in New York. Palazzo worked at the Korean Community Services' vaccination site in Queens.

"When I was the lead vaccinator, I was instructed to have everybody do the over diluting," Palazzo told CBS.

Palazzo alleges it was a direct order from company CEO Scott Orlanski. "I assumed he was the higher medical authority. I thought it was OK," he added.

Orlanski allegedly told Palazzo to utilize between 1.9ml to 2.0ml of dilutant "to obtain at least seven doses per vial."

Each Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine vial contains six doses of 0.3ml. The FDA requires vaccinators to dilute the vaccines with no more than 1.8ml of diluent.

"Dilute the vial contents using 1.8 mL of 0.9 percent Sodium Chloride Injection, USP to form the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine," FDA said in its report.

"Do not add more than 1.8 mL of diluent."

Several past and present employees have supported Palazzo’s claim, but requested to remain anonymous.

"They heavily pressured the vaccinators to get seven doses," one employee interviewed by CBS said.

Dr. Josef Schenker, medical director and owner of Centers Urgent Care, have denied the accusations. He says they have never ordered to over dilute the vaccines.

"We never advised anybody to over dilute anything … At no time was anybody instructed to draw up more diluent than 1.8ml," Schenker said.

“If you’re very careful and you’re very precise with your measurements, you can get a 7th dose,” he added.

The company has declined to comment on Palazzo's termination while investigations are ongoing.

A New York City Health Department senior staff has evaluated the site and interviewed staff and did not identify any major issues in the vaccination site, CBS noted.