A Texas doctor was charged Thursday with stealing a vial of the Covid-19 vaccine, according to prosecutors.
Dr. Hasan Gokal faces a charge of theft by a public servant after authorities said he stole a vial containing nine doses, the Harris County District Attorney’s Office said in a statement. The alleged incident occurred Dec. 29, when he worked at a vaccination site in Humble, about 20 miles north of Houston.
Gokal was fired after a coworker he confided in reported him to supervisors, according to the office.
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Prosecutors said Gokal “disregarded county protocols in place to ensure vaccine is not wasted but administered to vulnerable populations and front-line workers on a waiting list.”
“He abused his position to place his friends and family in line in front of people who had gone through the lawful process to be there,” District Attorney Kim Ogg said Thursday in a statement. “What he did was illegal and he’ll be held accountable under the law.”
In a statement to NBC News, Gokal’s attorney, Paul Doyle, said his client was a “dedicated public servant who ensured that Covid-19 vaccine dosages that would have otherwise expired went into the arms of people who met the criteria for receiving it.”
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“Harris County would have preferred Dr. Gokal let the vaccines go to waste and are attempting to disparage this man’s reputation in the process to support this policy,” he said.
Doyle has scheduled a press conference for noon Friday to discuss the case.
A spokesperson for the Harris County Public Health Department said in an email that the agency “took immediate action upon learning of improper handling of vaccines, to include alerting authorities.”
The department declined to comment further due to the ongoing investigation.
