Pictured: Milwaukee pharmacist who ‘deliberately spoiled 57 vials of Moderna vaccine

Police have arrested a Wisconsin pharmacist on charges of deliberately wasting 57 vials of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine by taking them out of a refrigerator and letting them stay overnight before 57 people received the “ ineffective ” dose.

Grafton Police said the former employee of the Advocate Aurora Health Hospital in Grafton was arrested Thursday afternoon on charges of recklessly endangering first degree safety, falsifying a prescription drug and criminal damage to property.

The male health worker has not been officially named. A list of inmates from the Ozaukee County Jail shows that Steven Bandenburg, 46, was listed on the same charges Thursday.

Brandenburg is also listed as a licensed pharmacist in Wisconsin.

Police began investigating the incident at the hospital on Wednesday but have yet to identify a motive. The value of spoiled vaccines is estimated at between $ 8,000 and $ 11,000.

The suspect’s arrest comes on the same day that Wisconsin health officials revealed 57 people received the ineffective dose of the vaccine after he was “ deliberately ” spoiled.

Dr Jeff Bahr, president of the Aurora Health Care medical group in Wisconsin, said on Thursday the culprit not only took the vials out of the refrigerator overnight Friday, but also did so Thursday night – putting them back in the refrigerator the next day morning. before anyone notices.

The net closed on the suspect when a pharmacist technician discovered the vials outside the refrigerator on Saturday morning.

With hospital officials unaware that they had also been left out the night before, some of the doses were presumed to be correct and were given to 57 people before the rest were thrown away.

Aurora Medical Center Grafton is now working with Moderna to determine how those affected can now be safely vaccinated.

The medical center originally believed the doses ‘were inadvertently taken out of a drugstore refrigerator overnight’ but said on Wednesday the culprit acted ‘intentionally’ and fired him, while Grafton Police and the FBI have launched an investigation.

Bahr gave a press conference via Zoom on Thursday where he revealed the culprit was a pharmacist in the hospital and gave more details on the saga.

He said a pharmacy technician first discovered that 57 vials of Moderna vaccine were left outside the refrigerator in which they were stored in the early hours of Saturday.

The technician returned the vials to the refrigerator and reported the incident to their superiors.

Bahr said the pharmacist in charge initially said they simply made an “ inadvertent error ” by leaving them out of the refrigerator when accessing other items in the same unit.

The vaccine can be stored outside of a refrigerator for up to 12 hours before it becomes ineffective.

Assuming that the removal was accidental and that the vials had been out of the refrigerator for less time, clinical officials at the hospital “determined that the vaccines could still be administered” that morning.

A total of 57 people received their first dose of Moderna vaccine on the morning of December 26 at Aurora Medical Center Grafton.

The rest of the vials were then discarded after being “rendered ineffective”.

But following an internal review, hospital staff became “ increasingly suspicious ” of the pharmacist’s behavior over the next few days, according to Bahr.

He was suspended before finally admitting “after several interviews” to having “intentionally removed” the bottles from the refrigerator.

The pharmacist then also admitted that he removed the vials from the refrigerator and left them outside overnight on Thursday, but put them back in the refrigerator on Friday morning before anyone saw them.

This meant that the vials were in fact ineffective or ineffective, Bahr said.

Bahr insisted that there was “ no evidence ” that the ineffective doses could have harmed the people given to them and the hospital is working with Moderna to formulate a plan for how people affected can safely receive an effective dose.

“The 57 have been notified,” Bahr said.

“There is no evidence that the vaccines have caused them any harm other than being potentially less effective or ineffective.

“ Moderna reassured us that there is no safety issue in giving a vaccine that has been out of the refrigerator for too long. We will partner with them and the FDA to develop a strategy on the future vaccination of the 57 affected people.

The hospital director also said he was convinced that no other vial other than 57 had been spoiled as the hospital had not received any doses until the day in question.

There is also “ no evidence ” that he tampered with the vaccine in any other way by removing it from the refrigerator, Bahr said, as he sought to reassure people that it was the work of a ‘bad actor rather than a bad process’.

Police and federal officials opened an investigation Wednesday after the Wisconsin health system said the employee admitted to deliberately wasting 500 doses of the coronavirus vaccine.

Aurora Medical Center first reported that the doses were wasted on Saturday, claiming they were accidentally left unrefrigerated overnight by an employee at Aurora Medical Center in Grafton.

The health system said on Wednesday that the vaccine doses were being deliberately spoiled.

In a statement Wednesday evening, Aurora said the employee involved “ admitted to intentionally removing the vaccine from the refrigeration. ”

Aurora said she fired the employee and referred the case to authorities.

“We continue to believe that vaccination is our way out of the pandemic. We are more than disappointed that this person’s actions are causing a delay of more than 500 people receiving their vaccine, ”the statement said.

Police and federal authorities opened an investigation on Wednesday.

The number of COVID-19 cases in Wisconsin continued to rise after falling in early December.

The State Department of Health Services reported 3,810 new confirmed cases Thursday, marking the third consecutive day of rising daily infections.

The state has now seen 481,102 cases.

COVID-19 was a factor in 41 additional deaths, bringing the state’s total death toll to 4,859. The survival rate remained unchanged at 99 percent.