The new COVID-19 vaccines are out, so every little bit helps as the country tries to get back to the norm. That said, it’s an equally bad time to learn that a Wisconsin pharmacist has reportedly sabotaged more than 500 doses of the Moderna vaccine. That number goes a long way as the process requires two doses per person.
In a press statement on Facebook, Grafton police said they had been called to Advocate Aurora Health Hospital in Grafton on Wednesday with a report that a former employee had deliberately retrieved vaccines from the refrigerated storage and left them overnight. Health workers said this made 570 doses “useless,” police said.
Incidentally, this was previously thought to be an accident, but Aurora Health said they found the pharmacist did this on purpose. The former employee in question has reportedly admitted in writing that he omitted the vaccine on purpose, knowing that improperly stored vaccines would be ruined. Detectives suggested that the defendant knew that tainted vaccinations would be useless, and that people who received them would think they were vaccinated when in reality they were not.
Police said 57 of those doses were given to patients, but health officials said there would be no health problems from the spoilage. The lost value was estimated to be between $ 8,000 and $ 11,000.
Grafton police did not identify the suspect and claimed that he should be formally notified of his allegations. They just said he was a “former Aurora Health employee” who was arrested for first-degree recklessness that compromised security, falsifying a prescription drug, and criminal property damage. They said he was being held in Ozaukee County Jail. As noted earlier, one Steven Brandenburg is in Ozaukee County Jail.
Data reviewed by Law & Crime shows that he is being detained on two counts: one each of second-degree recklessness that endangers security, and criminal damage to property. He was taken into custody on Thursday. Online records cite a “Steven R. Brandenburg” as a pharmacist from the village of Saukville, Ozaukee County. In any case, it is unclear whether prisoner Bradenburg has a lawyer.
[Screengrab via TMJ4 News]
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