The Wisconsin medical center, where 57 vials of the Modern coronavirus vaccine were discarded earlier this week, said in a statement on Wednesday that the employee who removed the vaccines from the freezer did so “intentionally” and was no longer employed by the hospital.
On Monday, hospital officials said about 50 vials of the vaccine had to be thrown away after an employee at Advocate Aurora Health medical center in Grafton, Wisconsin, “inadvertently” removed them from the pharmacy refrigerator, where vaccines are due be housed in low temperatures.
At the time, the incident was attributed to “human error”, but in a statement on Wednesday, the medical center said the bottles were intentionally removed. According to the statement, the 57 vials that were discarded overnight caused 500 doses of the vaccine to be discarded.
“We immediately launched an internal review and were led to believe that it was caused by inadvertent human error. The individual in question today acknowledged that he intentionally withdrew the vaccine from refrigeration, ”the hospital said in a statement on Wednesday.
“We are more than disappointed that the actions of this individual will result in the delay of more than 500 people in receiving the vaccine. This was a violation of our fundamental values, and the individual is no longer employed by us, ”added the hospital.
The hospital said that “competent authorities” were notified to investigate the incident.
Despite the loss of hundreds of vaccines, a spokesman told The Hill on Monday that the hospital’s vaccine distribution plan has not been interrupted as vaccines have been redirected from other medical centers.
According to the most recent data from the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, 47,147 vaccines have been administered in the state to date.
“We continue to believe that vaccination is our way out of the pandemic,” said the hospital.
Wisconsin has confirmed more than 5,000 deaths and more than 15,000 cases since the pandemic began, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.