MILWAUKEE, Wis. (WMTV) – Wisconsin police say they arrested the dismissed hospital worker suspected of intentionally damaging the COVID-19 vaccine.
The Grafton Police Department said the former Advocate Aurora Health pharmacist was arrested on suspicion of danger, tampering with a prescription drug and criminal property damage. The department said in a press release on Thursday that he was in Ozaukee County Prison.
Police have not identified the pharmacist, claiming he has not yet been formally charged. Grafton PD noted that the pharmacist is a resident of Grafton.
Fifty-seven doses of the ineffective vaccine were administered. The authorities noted that there are no negative side effects in the vaccines administered, but the vaccine will not be effective in preventing the virus.
At a news conference on Thursday, officials said a pharmacist at Aurora Advocate removed the vaccines from a refrigerator twice last week. The employee was fired and the police launched an investigation Wednesday night. The health care system also notified the Department of Health Services and the FBI.
The health system said it was initially believed that the pharmaceutical technician left the vials out of the refrigerator in the early hours of December 26 and then reported the incident to his superiors. Authorities determined that the vaccine could still be administered the same morning. The pharmacist said it was an “inadvertent mistake” when they were working with other materials.
After reviewing the incident, the employee admitted to intentionally removing it and then returning the vaccine overnight between Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. The president of Aurora Health Care did not say how long vaccines were left out. There were no vaccines administered on 24 and 25 December. The 57 ineffective doses were administered on December 26 and all people who were vaccinated with these vaccines were notified.
“It is clear that this situation involved a bad actor as opposed to a bad process,” said Dr. Jeff Bahr. “We certainly use this to have an additional dialogue and to ensure learning around our processes.
The health care president said there was no evidence that any other vaccine vials had been tampered with at the facility. There is also no confirmed reason.
Designated DHS secretary Andrea Palm said she was disappointed that any COVID-19 vaccine was lost in Wisconsin.
“As we’ve seen in the past few weeks, our healthcare professionals are eager to protect themselves from contracting COVID-19 through vaccination,” said Palm. “They are at the forefront of our fight against this disease and have seen the dire consequences that can result from hiring COVID-19.”
Palm said DHS worked closely with Aurora on the investigation. She also said that DHS will continue to work with health agencies to administer as many vaccines as possible.
The police estimate that the value of the damaged doses was between $ 8,000 and $ 11,000.
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