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A 46-year-old former Wisconsin pharmacist agreed to plead guilty to two counts of attempted tampering on Wednesday after being accused of deliberately leaving vials of COVID-19 vaccine out of a pharmacy refrigerator in order to spoil them.
According to the Department of Justice, Steven Brandenburg removed vials of COVID-19 vaccine made by Moderna from the pharmacy refrigerator in Grafton, Wisconsin over two evenings in December. The plea deal states that Brandenburg intended to render these vaccines “inert or ineffective” through its actions.
The incident happened at Advocate Aurora Health Care and affected more than 500 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, some of which were administered to hospital staff (when officials believed it was crash and they were still in the usability window).
“Fake vaccine doses in the midst of a global health crisis calls for a firm response, as evidenced by the serious charges brought today by the United States,” said Bryan Boynton, acting deputy attorney general of the division DOJ’s calendar, in a statement. Wednesday. “The Department of Justice will continue to work with its law enforcement partners to ensure the public receives safe and effective vaccines.”
Brandenburg was fired from the hospital system at the end of December. His two counts, “Attempting to tamper with consumer products with reckless disregard of the risk of another person being in danger of death or injury”, each carry a maximum sentence of ten years in prison. .
Hospital officials have not yet determined whether the vaccines were actually spoiled, the Justice Department said. Although the hospital system initially said these vaccines were thrown away, Ozaukee County District Attorney Adam Gerol said earlier this month that the hospital’s statement had been returned, reported Wisconsin Public Radio.
“The distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine is essential to overcome this pandemic, which continues to end lives and disrupt our economy,” US Attorney Matthew D. Krueger said in a statement Wednesday. “As these accusations show, the Department of Justice will prosecute anyone – and in particular any healthcare professional – who tampers with the vaccine.”
According to the plea deal, “Brandenburg is skeptical of vaccines in general and the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine in particular, and it has communicated these same beliefs to colleagues at the Grafton facility as well.” The Associated Press, citing court documents, previously reported that the Brandenburg believed COVID-19 vaccines were able to mutate human DNA and were not safe to administer to humans.
The former pharmacist also reportedly believed the world was “falling apart” and storing food and weapons in rental units to prepare them, The Associated Press reported, citing an affidavit filed by his wife. The affidavit says his wife, who filed for divorce, felt unsafe in Brandenburg and the man believed the government was preparing for a power grid shutdown.
“He told me that if I didn’t understand now that he was right and the world was falling apart around us, I was in serious denial,” she said in an affidavit, reports the New York Times. “He went on to say that the government is planning cyber attacks and plans to shut down the power grid.”
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