Local police announced Thursday that the hospital worker in Wisconsin who is accused of intentionally removing 57 vials of COVID-19 vaccine from a refrigerator has been arrested. The worker has already been discharged by Aurora Medical Center, which said he was forced to discard more than 500 doses of the vaccine as a result of the incident.
Police in Grafton said the individual was arrested on three recommended charges: First Degree, which recklessly endangers safety, the expiration of prescription drugs and criminal property damage, all of which are crimes. Police did not name the individual, but did identify him as a man. The suspect is being held in Ozaukee County Jail.
The CBS Chicago reported that the hospital instituted an investigation and originally led to the involuntary human error being blamed. However, attorney Aurora Health admitted on Wednesday that the employee responsible for it did so on purpose.
The department indicated that some patients were vaccinated with the non-refrigerated doses. But it is said that health officials do not believe that someone taking a dose that is not properly cooled is at medical risk, and rather describe the doses as ‘useless’. The department estimated the value of the spoiled vaccines between $ 8,000 and $ 11,000.
Police in Grafton said earlier that the department, the FBI and the Food and Drug Administration were investigating the matter “actively”.
“We still believe that vaccination is our way out of the pandemic,” Adv. Aurora Health said in a statement. “We are more than disappointed that the actions of this individual will result in a delay of more than 500 people receiving their vaccine. It was a violation of our core values and the individual is no longer employed by us.”
Like the other vaccine approved for emergency use in the United States, manufactured by Pfizer, the Moderna vaccine requires initial transport and storage at freezing temperatures, but can then be stored locally at more typical refrigeration temperatures for a few days before use.
Despite federal officials’ goal of immunizing 20 million Americans by the end of this year, according to the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention’s COVID Data Tracker, only about 12 million doses were distributed on Thursday morning, and less than 3 million was actually administered.
Health and Human Services officials, the Department of Defense and Operation Warp Speed - the military-led operation to deliver vaccines across the country – told reporters on Wednesday that the slower-than-expected administration of the shots was partly due to can be due to a delay. in reporting, but they acknowledged that not all vaccine doses had reached their intended destination.
Army General Gustave Perna, chief operating officer of Operation Warp Speed, admitted that some of the doses were still “on the way” while he was speaking on Wednesday. Nevertheless, he expressed confidence in the government’s efforts to vaccinate Americans against the coronavirus.
“I think the distribution is going really well,” he said, contradicting the CDC figures by saying on Wednesday that “more than 14 million doses of the vaccine have been distributed.”
CBSNews.com’s Audrey McNamara contributed to this report.