Wisconsin pharmacist Steven Brandenburg, who sabotaged Covid vaccine, thought it harms people, police say

In a probable cause statement obtained by CNN-affiliate WTMJ, authorities say Brandenburg admitted to investigators that he believed in conspiracy theories and believed that “the COVID-19 vaccine was not safe for humans and could harm them and their health. DNA could change. “

A pharmacy technician found the bottles in the early hours of Dec. 26 and put them back in the refrigerator, Aurora Health Care Medical Group president Dr. Jeff Bahr told reporters Thursday.

Hospital officials used 57 of the 570 doses to vaccinate people, he said.

Grafton Police Department Detective Sgt. Eric Sutherland said in his statement that Brandenburg “recklessly endangered those people’s lives” by potentially compromising the vaccine’s efficacy.

But at the virtual hearing held Monday, Ozaukee County district attorney Adam Gerol said extensive testing should be done on the doses not used for vaccinations to determine if Brandenburg’s actions had indeed reduced their efficacy .

“It is not known how much time it will take,” said Gerol. “Fortunately, we have them so that – some or all of them – they can be returned to Moderna for testing.”

Prosecutors from the Ozaukee County District Attorney’s Office charged Brandenburg on Monday with two felonies, second-degree recklessness that endangers security and criminal property damage, according to a police press release. He was not asked to make a plea.

But if testing shows the vaccines are or were still effective, prosecutors could instead file a less serious charge of attempted criminal property damage, Gerol said.

Judge Paul Malloy, Ozaukee County Circuit Judge, has scheduled the next court date for Jan. 19.

Brandenburg said nothing, other than to say he had no questions about the terms of his bail: handing in his firearms and not being in touch with Aurora Health Care Medical Group or any of his former colleagues.

Grafton Police Sgt. Patrick Brock told CNN that Brandenburg has been released on bail, for which he must pay $ 10,000 if he does not show up in court.

CNN contacted Brandenburg’s attorney Jason Baltz, who made a “no comment” on behalf of his client.

Police said the hospital pharmacist gave a written statement to public safety officials at Aurora Medical Center in Grafton last week saying that he had deliberately disposed of the vials, knowing that the doses would not be effective if they were not used properly. Are stored.

But during an internal investigation, the former employee said the vaccines had been removed for a period of time during the night hours of December 24 and 25.

Bahr said 57 vaccinations given Saturday are either less effective or ineffective, based on the new information provided by the pharmacist.

Hospital officials said last week that Brandenburg was no longer working there.

The removal of the vials from the refrigerator at the medical center just north of Milwaukee, and the subsequent need to throw away many of them, means more than 500 doses have been lost, said lawyer Aurora Health.

Hospital officials are working with Moderna and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to work out a strategy for those who received the 57 doses.

The hospital system has not said how much time has passed from when the bottles were taken out of the refrigerator to when they were discovered.