--- title: "Doctor Fired for Giving Out Vaccine Doses That Were About to Expire" description: "Texas doctor Hasan Gokal was fired for giving out ten COVID-19 vaccine shots with only six hours remaining until the vial would have expired." date: "2021-02-11" modified: "2021-02-11" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/neoscope/doctor-fired-giving-out-vaccine-doses-expire" categories: - "Developments" - "Health & Medicine" tags: - "coronavirus" - "covid19" - "health" - "vaccine" --- # Doctor Fired for Giving Out Vaccine Doses That Were About to Expire ![Texas doctor Hasan Gokal was fired for giving out ten COVID-19 vaccine shots with only six hours remaining until the vial would have expired.]() *\Image: Asian Development Bank\* Hasan Gokal, a doctor in Texas, found himself in the dramatic position of having only six hours to find ten people to receive an already-opened vial of the COVID-19 Moderna vaccine in December, [*The New York Times* reports](). After several house calls, Gokal invited the ten individuals, including a woman in her 80s with dementia and a mother whose child was on a ventilator, to his home to administer the shots. With just minutes to spare, he gave the last dose to his wife, who has pulmonary sarcoidosis. Gokal was promptly fired from his job and criminally charged with stealing the vaccine doses — a total value of just $135. "It was my world coming down," Gokal told the *Times*. "To have everything collapse on you. God, it was the lowest moment in my life." There have been several instances of physicians rushing to administer vaccines that were set to expire. Earlier this month, health workers in Oregon got stuck in a snowstorm and decided to use the six hours remaining until the vaccine vials they had with them were set to expire to [give shots to other people waiting in their cars]() as the storm rolled over. And in Washington, a failed freezer prompted healthcare workers to [give out 800 doses to a line of patients]() who stretched around the block. Gokal's case was initially dismissed by a judge in January. Yet prosecutors say he is a villain. "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," Kim Ogg, the Harris County district attorney, whose case was dismissed, told the *Times*. The doctor says he stuck to guidelines not to waste any doses of the vaccine. But officials maintain that he should have returned the vials or thrown them away. He was still fired, though. Fortunately, he has widespread support from the medical community. "It is difficult to understand any justification for charging any well-intentioned physician in this situation with a criminal offense," reads a statement by the Texas Medical Association and the Harris County Medical Society. ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()