The new COVID-19 vaccines are out, so every bit helps if the country tries to get back to normal. With that said, it’s a bad time to hear that a Wisconsin pharmacist has allegedly sabotaged more than 500 doses of Moderna vaccine. The number stretches a lot, as the process requires two doses per person.
In a press release posted on Facebook, the Grafton Police Department said they were called to attorney Aurora Health Hospital in Grafton on Wednesday on a report that a former employee intentionally removed the vaccines from the cold room and left them overnight. . Health workers said it made 570 doses “useless”, police said.
It was previously believed to be an accident, but Aurora Health said the pharmacist did it on purpose. The former employee in question apparently admitted in writing that he had deliberately omitted the vaccine, knowing that the vaccines that had been stored incorrectly would be destroyed. Detectives suggested that the accused knew that spoiled vaccinations would be useless, and that people who received them would think they had been vaccinated if they had not actually been.
Police said 57 of the doses were given to patients, but with reference to health officials, there would be no health problems due to the spoilage. The lost value is estimated at between $ 8,000 and $ 11,000.
The Grafton police station did not identify the accused and claimed he should have been formally notified of his charges. They only said that he was a ‘former Aurora Health employee’, who was arrested for endangering the first degree’s reckless endangerment, forging a prescribed medicine and criminal case damage. They mentioned he was being held in Ozaukee County Jail. As previously noted, a Steven Brandenburg is in Ozaukee County Jail.
Records reviewed by Law & Crime show that he is being held on two charges: one of second-degree security recklessly endangered and criminal property damage. He was arrested Thursday. Online records mention a ‘Steven R. Brandenburg’ as a pharmacist from the town of Saukville, which is in Ozaukee County. In any case, it is unclear whether Bradenburg Prison has a lawyer.
[Screengrab via TMJ4 News]
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