Dr. Jay Varma, who served as New York City’s COVID czar, has been fired from his role as vice president and chief medical officer at SIGA Technologies following a scandal regarding his conduct during the pandemic. Conservative podcaster Steven Crowder released a hidden-camera video in which Varma admitted to attending a rave and sex parties in hotels while urging New Yorkers to adhere to strict COVID-19 guidelines.
“I actually was the one who convinced the mayor to make it a vaccine mandate,” Varma said in the video.
He acknowledged that if the city had discovered his actions, it would have been “a real embarrassment.”
“We went to some underground dance party underneath a bank in Wall Street. And we were all rolling, we’re all taking Molly, and everybody’s high. Everyone was high. I was so happy because I hadn’t done that in a year or whatever, but I was looking around like, ‘I wonder if anyone sees me they’re gonna be pissed, because this was not COVID-friendly,” he said in the hidden video.
Varma noted that he had to be discreet because hotels did not want gatherings, stating, “I was running the entire COVID response in the city.”
According to Varma, he and his wife hosted two sex parties in August and November 2020 and attended a large gathering in June 2021. He was involved in the city’s COVID response from April 2020 to May 2021.
In response to the video, Varma released a statement:
“In those private conversations that were secretly recorded, spliced, diced, and taken out of context, I referred to events that transpired four years ago. During that time, I participated in two private gatherings. I take responsibility for not using the best judgment at the time. Facing the greatest public health crisis in a century, our top priority was to save lives, and every decision made was based on the best available science to keep New Yorkers safe. I stand by my efforts to get New Yorkers vaccinated against COVID-19, and I reject dangerous extremist efforts to undermine the public’s confidence in the need for and effectiveness of vaccines.”
Following the release of the video, Varma’s firing from SIGA Technologies was confirmed in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday.
His termination happened just hours after a group of about 100 city workers who had been dismissed from their jobs for not following COVID vaccination mandates or other COVID protocols held a rally at New York City Hall.
