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A pharmacist in suburban Milwaukee who allegedly messed up hundreds of doses of COVID-19 by removing them from the refrigeration has been arrested, authorities said Thursday.
The actions of the now fired employee resulted in 57 people receiving ineffective doses of the vaccine at the Advocate Aurora Health Hospital in Grafton, hospital officials said. The suspect was arrested on suspicion of reckless endangerment, tampering with a prescription drug and criminal damage to property, all felonies, the Grafton Police Department said.
Authorities have not determined a motive. The pharmacist has not been identified.
The boxes containing the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine are ready to ship to the McKesson distribution center in Olive Branch, Mississippi. An employee at a Wisconsin hospital intentionally removed 57 vials of Moderna vaccine from a refrigerator, resulting in the rejection of 500 doses, officials said. Wednesday. (AP Photo / Paul Sancya, Pool)
Hospital officials said the unidentified pharmacist intentionally removed the 57 vials with 500 doses of Moderna vaccine from the refrigeration overnight on December 24 and left them outside for two nights. The doses were returned and then withdrawn again.
As a result, hundreds of doses were thrown away. Moderna said there was no health risk associated with spoiled doses, clinical leaders at a virtual press conference Thursday.
A pharmacy technician discovered the vials outside a refrigerator on Saturday and reported the incident, said Dr Jeff Bahr, president of the Aurora Health Care medical group.
Hospital officials initially determined the incident was the result of human error, saying the employee removed the vaccines to look for something else in the refrigerator. But the employee eventually admitted to knowingly removing the vials from the cold store, knowing they would be ineffective if used.
Moderna vaccine can be stored at room temperature for up to 12 hours before it is no longer viable. Clinicians administered certain doses within this permitted window.
“We continued to vaccinate until the rest of the vaccine was thrown away due to its ineffectiveness,” Bahr said.
The value of the spoiled doses ranged from $ 8,000 to $ 11,000, Grafton police said.
Andrea Palm, a delegate with the Wisconsin State Department of Health Services, said she was disappointed the COVID-19 vaccines were wasted.
“As we have seen over the past few weeks, our health workers are eager to protect themselves against COVID-19 through vaccination,” she said. “Immediately after the notification, DHS followed up with Aurora and worked closely with them to investigate the situation, review their processes, and implement improvements.”
State Senator Alberta Darling, who represents Grafton, called the incident “disheartening.”
“These doses are for frontline workers,” she tweeted. “This senseless act puts them in danger.”
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Bahr said the incident was the result of a “bad actor, as opposed to a bad process”. The incident was investigated by Grafton Police, the I and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the FBI.
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