NYC’s Former COVID Adviser Fired After Admitting to Attending Sex and

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Deputy Commissioner of the New York City Health Department Dr. Jay Varma speaks at a press conference in front of 546 West 147th Street in New York City. (Photo by Bryan Thomas/Getty Images)

OAN Staff Brooke Mallory
1:41 PM – Wednesday, September 25, 2024

A recording of a former New York City health official discussing attending sex parties and other raunchy, drug-fueled parties while the city was forcefully advising people to exercise social distancing and other measures has led to his termination in the private sector.

The health official played a major role in assisting and coordinating the city’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Dr. Jay K. Varma is a leading epidemiologist and expert on the prevention and control of diseases, having led epidemic responses, developed global and national policies, and led large-scale programs in China, Southeast Asia, Africa, and the United States. From 2001-2021, he worked for the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention with postings in Atlanta, Thailand, China, Ethiopia, and New York City. Recruited by the Mayor of New York at the peak of the COVID epidemic, Dr.Varma served from April 2020 to May 2021 as the principal scientific spokesperson and architect for New York City’s COVID-19 pandemic response,” read Varma’s bio on drugtargetreview.com.

In a report submitted to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday, SIGA Technologies, a pharmaceutical business based in New York, announced the resignation of Dr. Jay Varma as executive vice president and chief medical officer.

From April 2020 to May 2021, Varma was Mayor Bill de Blasio’s senior public health advisor. In addition to helping create programs and putting protocols in place to combat the virus, such as urging people to wear masks in public, get tested frequently, and get vaccinated once mRNA vaccines were available. He frequently appeared at news briefings addressing the city’s response to COVID-19 with the Democrat mayor.

“I did all this deviant, sexual stuff while I was on TV and people were like, ‘Aren’t you afraid? Aren’t you embarrassed?’” he said during the recording. “And I was like, no, I really like being my authentic self.”

Varma also said that if his activities had been known at the time, they would have had a catastrophic effect on the city’s efforts.

“It would have been a big deal,” he said at another point in the video. “It would have been a real embarrassment.”

In a separate ordeal in the United Kingdom, after a lengthy government investigation found that he and members of his administration had attended a number of parties in government buildings in violation of COVID-19 lockdown regulations at the time, former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson resigned in 2023.

Additionally, in November 2020, Governor Gavin Newsom (D-Calif.) was condemned for breaking his own strict pandemic regulations by going to an upscale French Laundry restaurant in Napa Valley to have dinner with a group of friends.

In a statement released by a spokesperson, Varma confirmed the authenticity of the video but refrained from discussing his dismissal on Tuesday.

“I take responsibility for not using the best judgment at the time,” he stated, noting that the recording was secretly filmed during private conversations he had with others. However, he also tried to claim that it was “spliced, diced, and taken out of context.”

Varma later admitted to attending at least three private parties while he was employed by City Hall, but he did not go into detail about all of the activities he mentioned in the recording.

In the video, Varma said that one of the COVID-19-era parties involved eight to ten people—including his wife—all partaking in consuming ecstasy in a hotel room in 2020 while everyone was naked and fooling around.

“I had to be kind of sneaky about it,” he said. “I was running the entire COVID response for the city.”

In 2021, he also went to a drug-fueled dance party in a room beneath a Wall Street bank, where about 200 individuals were present, according to the recording.

According to his LinkedIn bio, Varma left his job at City Hall about that time but still continued to be paid as a part-time consultant. He admitted being concerned about being recognized at that particular party at the time.