A Wisconsin hospital worker was fired for intentionally removing the COVID-19 vaccine from a refrigerator – forcing the hospital to throw away more than 500 doses. Aurora Medical Center – Grafton, just outside Milwaukee, said on Wednesday that 57 vials of Moderna vaccine were removed from a pharmacy refrigerator and left overnight.
The hospital launched an investigation and was led to believe that inadvertent human error was to blame, reported CBS 2 Chicago. But on Wednesday, the responsible worker admitted to doing it on purpose, said lawyer Aurora Saúde.
The hospital said it “has notified the competent authorities for further investigations”.
“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.”
Grafton police said “without comment” when CBS 2’s Marissa Parra called and asked if they were involved or investigating the incident.
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.