Police on Thursday announced the arrest of a former Aurora Medical Center employee in Grafton, Wisconsin, who is accused of tampering with 570 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.
Authorities did not give the name of the former employee, a pharmacist, who was fired on Wednesday after allegedly admitting to deliberately removing 57 vials of COVID-19 vaccine from a refrigerator, and then returning it.
But a list of prisoners in the Ozaukee County Jail showed that a Steven Brandenburg had been charged on Thursday on charges of criminal property damage and security risk, which the police say the pharmacist in question is facing.
Brandenburg is also listed as a licensed pharmacist on state records.
The removed doses, which may have been weakened outside the refrigerator, were administered to 57 people before the error became apparent, officials said. People who took the affected doses were notified and there is no indication that they were harmed, hospital officials said at a news conference on Thursday.
In a press release, the Grafton Police said the pharmacist “intentionally removed vaccines from cold storage and left them sitting overnight, making about 570 doses of the vaccine ‘useless’ according to health officials.” The former employee is said to have told investigators that “he knew that spoiled vaccines would be useless and that people who received the vaccines would think they were vaccinated against the virus when they were not.”
The police are investigating the ex-pharmacist’s motive and have not yet filed a complaint against him. He is currently being detained on recommended charges of recklessly jeopardizing security, tampering with a prescription drug and criminal property damage, all crimes.
Aurora Health Care Medical Group is communicating with the Modern vaccine manufacturer to determine the effect that lack of refrigeration can have on vaccine potency.
Wild scheme to sabotage the COVID vaccine is very scary for some antivaxxers
The hospital system in the state destroyed by COVID revealed for the first time that 57 vials of Moderna vaccine had been left out of the refrigerator for more than 12 hours on December 26. At the time, Aurora described it as the product of “unintentional human error,” indicating that an employee removed the vaccines to get something else from the refrigerator.
But on Wednesday night, the hospital changed its history, indicating that a new analysis pointed to “intentional” destruction and that the employee was fired.
The Modern vaccine can only survive up to 12 hours outside refrigeration, although it does not need the same level of refrigerated storage as the Pfizer vaccine.
The allegation of deliberate sabotage comes at a time when Wisconsin remains in the midst of a catastrophic outbreak of COVID-19 – and after state and federal officials have expressed fear that vandals and antivaxxers may target doses.
The local police, as well as the FBI and the Food and Drug Administration, allegedly helped with the investigation. The FDA and FBI declined to comment on their involvement.
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