"Public Health Officials Should Have Been Open About Their Social Gatherings All Along"

In recently revealed conversations recorded covertly, New York City’s former COVID czar, Jay Varma, admitted to organizing two sex parties during the latter half of 2020, a time when many New Yorkers were grappling with severe pandemic-related isolation. “The only way I could do this job for the city was if I had some way to blow off steam every now and then,” Varma confided to an undercover reporter, whom he believed he was on a date with. In a video compiled from multiple recordings taken this summer, Varma, who previously served as a senior public-health adviser to the city, discussed the events held in August and November of 2020. He also spoke about his efforts to promote vaccination, stating he made it “very uncomfortable” for those wishing to avoid the shots.

In a statement to The Atlantic, Varma defended his vaccination efforts against COVID-19 and rejected extremist claims undermining public confidence in vaccines. He acknowledged attending “two private gatherings” during his government tenure and accepted responsibility for exercising poor judgment at that time. He also mentioned that the recorded conversations were “secretly recorded, spliced, diced, and taken out of context.”