Utah pharmacist gave half a dozen COVID-19 cards without giving them a chance

(AP Photo / Wilfredo Lee) FILE – Immunization records are presented before residents are vaccinated on Thursday, Jan.21, 2021, at the Self-Supported and Assisted Seniors Community of Vero Beach Islands in Vero Beach, Fla. . The government has tasked CVS and Walgreens with administering injections to long-term care facilities in almost all states. A Utah pharmacist admitted giving COVID-19 vaccination cards to half a dozen people without getting them vaccinated.

| July 15, 2021, 4:53 p.m.

| Update: 5:31 p.m.

A Utah pharmacist admitted giving COVID-19 vaccination cards to half a dozen people without getting them vaccinated.

According to a stipulation order, the pharmacist relinquished his license and agreed to pay a fine of $ 2,000. He admitted that on or around June 30, he saw a “reluctant patient” whose employer wanted the patient to be vaccinated.

The pharmacist “authorized the pharmacy technician to counsel” the patient on “alleged and / or unconfirmed adverse reactions” to COVID vaccines – and he “did not correct” the technician when the patient was told “that vaccination could cause infertility, ”according to the order.

The pharmacist was seen on surveillance video entering a room with the patient – off camera – and then coming back. He was then seen taking a vial of Johnson & Johnson vaccine from a refrigerator, recording the manufacturer’s lot number on the vaccine card, and handing the card to the patient – but he did not prepared from syringe or administered vaccine.

According to the stipulation order, the pharmacist said he left the patient “a choice”. And he also said he did the same with “a handful of others … maybe five” when he thought they were apprehensive about the vaccine.

“By fraudulently filling out and giving the vaccination card”, the pharmacist “misrepresented the patient as vaccinated and exposed the patient and other people around the patient to the risk of contracting COVID-19”, according to the stipulation order .

After proposing a fine of $ 8,000, the Division of Occupational and Professional Licensing accepted the fine of $ 2,000. The division also stated that it “does not guarantee that any future demand by the [man] to practice the profession of pharmacist will be granted.