The Wisconsin hospital official accused of intentionally removing 57 vials of a COVID-19 vaccine from a pharmacy refrigerator has been arrested, local police announced on Thursday. The worker had already been fired by the Aurora Medical Center, which said it had been forced to throw away more than 500 doses of the vaccine as a result of the incident.
Grafton police said the individual was arrested on three recommended charges: First Degree Recklessly jeopardizing security, tampering with a prescription drug and criminal property damage, all crimes. The police did not name the individual, but identified him as a man. The suspect is being held in Ozaukee County Prison.
The hospital initiated an investigation and was originally led to believe that inadvertent human error was to blame, CBS Chicago reported. But on Wednesday, the responsible worker admitted to doing it on purpose, said lawyer Aurora Saúde.
The department indicated that some patients were vaccinated with uncooled doses. But he said health officials did not believe that anyone who received a dose that was not adequately refrigerated was at medical risk and instead described those doses as “useless”. The department estimated the value of spoiled vaccines between $ 8,000 and $ 11,000.
Grafton police said earlier that the department, the FBI and the Food and Drug Administration are investigating the case “actively”.
“We continue to believe that vaccination is our way out of the pandemic,” said attorney Aurora Health in a statement. “We are more than disappointed that this individual’s actions will result in more than 500 people being delayed in receiving the vaccine. This was a violation of our fundamental values, and the individual is no longer employed by us.”
Like the other vaccine approved for emergency use in the United States, made by Pfizer, the Modern vaccine requires transport and initial storage in deep freezing temperatures, but can then be stored locally at more typical refrigeration temperatures for several days before use.
Despite the federal authorities’ stated goal of immunizing 20 million Americans by the end of this year, according to the COVID Data Tracker of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, only about 12 million doses were delivered on Thursday morning , and less than 3 million were actually administered.
Health and Human Services officials, the Department of Defense and Operation Warp Speed - the military operation to deliver vaccines across the country – told reporters on Wednesday that slower-than-expected administration of the shots could be due in part to a delay in reporting, but acknowledged that not all doses of the vaccine reached their intended destinations.
Army General Gustave Perna, chief of operations for Operation Warp Speed, admitted that some of the doses were still “on the road” while he spoke on Wednesday. However, he expressed confidence in the government’s efforts to vaccinate Americans against the coronavirus.
“We are really doing well, in my opinion, in distribution,” he said, contradicting the CDC figures when saying on Wednesday that “more than 14 million doses of the vaccine have been distributed.”
Audrey McNamara of CBSNews.com contributed to this report.