A former Wisconsin medical center employee forced 500 doses of COVID-19 vaccine to be discarded after deliberately removing dozens of vials from the refrigerator.
The Aurora Medical Center in Grafton, WI, initially thought 57 vials of the recently approved Moderna vaccine, which should be kept between 36 and 46 degrees Fahrenheit, were accidentally left unchilled on December 26th.
However, Aurora officials then said Announced Wednesday that the responsible person took the vials “intentionally” out of the fridge, which resulted in about 500 individual doses having to be discarded.
“We are more than disappointed that the actions of this individual will result in a delay of more than 500 people receiving their vaccine,” the hospital system said in the announcement, adding that the anonymous individual ‘is no longer employed by us not.’
According to a Washington Post report, with reference to Grafton police, the FBI and the Food and Drug Administration are investigating the incident.
As of Wednesday, the state has reported more than 477,000 COVID-19 cases. According to state data last updated on Tuesday, so far just over 47,000 vaccines have been administered in Wisconsin.
The Trump administration’s vaccination efforts as part of Operation Warp Speed were recently criticized by President-elect Joe Biden (and fellow Americans) for being slower than necessary.
“As I have long feared and warned, the effort to distribute and administer the vaccine is not progressing as it should,” Biden said, while also promising to speed up the process once he takes office.