Police Nab Wisconsin Pharmacist Accused of Failing to Refrigerate 570 Covid Vaccines

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Wisconsin police on Thursday arrested a Grafton pharmacist accused of intentionally destroying more than 500 doses of a Covid-19 vaccine at the Aurora Medical Center.

“On Saturday, Dec. 26, in the early morning, one of our pharmacy technicians discovered what turned out to be 57 vials of Moderna vaccine, enough for about 570 doses outside the refrigerator in which those vials were stored,” Aurora Health President Dr. Jeff Bahr said at a press conference Thursday afternoon. “Over the subsequent days, as we continued our internal review, we became increasingly suspicious of the behavior of the individual in question. The individual was suspended, and after multiple interviews over the course of the week, admitted yesterday to intentionally removing the vaccine from refrigeration.”

Bahr didn’t say whether authorities knew the perpetrator’s motive. Police are withholding the 46-year-old pharmacist’s name until charges have been released. Those are expected to felony endangerment and adulteration of a prescription drug.

“Grafton detectives indicate that the individual knew the spoiled vaccinations would be useless and that people who received the vaccinations would think they had been vaccinated against the virus when in fact they were not,” police said in a statement to media. “DHS requires any wasted vaccine to be reported, investigated and addressed through a written plan of improvement.”

Officials said 57 doses of the vaccine were administered before staff discovered the issue. Patients who received them may need to receive an additional vaccine to be fully inoculated against Covid-19.

The spoiled vaccines held an estimated value of $8,000 to $11,000.

“We continue to believe that vaccination is our way out of the pandemic,” Aurora Health said in a statement. “We are more than disappointed that this individual’s actions will result in a delay of more than 500 people receiving their vaccine. This was a violation of our core values, and the individual is no longer employed by us.”