GRAFTON, Delete. (AP) – Police and federal authorities are investigating after a Wisconsin health system said an employee admitted to deliberately corrupting 500 doses of coronavirus vaccine.
Aurora Medical Center first reported that the doses were tainted on Saturday, saying they were accidentally left out uncooled overnight by an employee of Aurora Medical Center in Grafton. The health system said on Wednesday that the doses of vaccine now appear to have been deliberately tainted.
Police in Grafton, about 20 miles north of Milwaukee, said in a statement that the department, the FBI and the Food and Drug Administration are “actively” investigating the matter. Police said they had been made aware of the alleged tampering on Wednesday evening. Police said Thursday morning that no other information would be released immediately and declined to say if any arrests have been made.
In a statement late on Wednesday, Aurora said the employee concerned “acknowledged that they had deliberately removed the vaccine from the refrigerator.”
Aurora said it fired the employee and referred the matter to authorities. The statement said nothing about a possible motive for the action.
“We continue to believe vaccination is our way out of the pandemic. We are more than disappointed that this person’s actions will result in a delay of more than 500 people getting their vaccine,” the statement said.
Aurora said it would provide more information on Thursday.
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