The pharmaceutical executive who once served as New York’s Covid commissioner was fired on Monday, days after admitting to attending “private gatherings” that were banned at the height of the pandemic, according to a U.S. federal filing.
The board of directors of SIGA Technologies has terminated Dr. Jay Varma effective immediately “without cause,” according to a statement filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday.
Varma was the company’s executive vice president and chief medical officer, the filing said. He also served on its board of directors.
A company spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday. A Varma spokesman declined to comment.
The measures introduced in New York City while Varma was chief health adviser to former Mayor Bill de Blasio and architect of the city’s vaccination strategy, attracted national attention after Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving was banned from playing basketball in New York City because he refused to get vaccinated against Covid-19.
Varma acknowledged the banned gatherings after a conservative podcaster posted a video last week that appeared to be hidden camera footage in which Varma describes the gatherings.
In an earlier statement by his spokesman, Varma did not deny the authenticity of the videos, but said they were secretly recorded, “edited, chopped up and taken out of context.” The spokesman declined to say how the videos were taken out of context.
In the recordings, Varma can be heard describing a “sex party” he attended with his wife and eight to 10 other people at a hotel in August 2020, as well as an indoor dance party in July 2021 attended by more than 200 people.
In the recordings, Varma can be heard describing the first event as “just being naked with friends.”
By the time of the second event, New York State had raised the limit on outdoor gatherings from 200 to 500 people. Varma’s spokesman previously said he was working part-time as a consultant at City Hall at the time and that all attendees were vaccinated.
“I served at City Hall between April 2020 and May 2021,” Varma said in the statement. “During that time, I attended two private gatherings. I take responsibility for not using my best judgment at the time.”
