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A few weeks ago, the United States began to get vaccinated against the corona virus. But the vaccine is also in short supply there. Several states are calling for President Donald Trump to receive more vaccine doses quickly. In Wisconsin, vaccines in stock are not close enough to supply all healthcare workers who are willing to vaccinate. Now a state pharmacist is said to have deliberately disabled hundreds of doses of vaccines.
According to official information, the man is said to have deliberately left 57 10-dose vials of Moderna vaccine unrefrigerated. Initial investigations have shown that the suspect deliberately removed the vaccine from the refrigerator and left it overnight, police in the affected city of Grafton said Thursday. The man admitted that he knew this would render the vaccine doses useless.
According to the police, the incident occurred on December 26. 57 doses of the ineffective vaccine were administered. Later, Aurora Medical Center employees noticed that the vaccine could no longer be effective. The remaining blisters were discarded. The value of the destroyed vaccines is estimated to be around $ 8,000 to $ 11,000.
For those vaccinated who have received the ineffective vaccine, there is no risk, according to the hospital. However, vaccinations would have to be repeated.
No charges have been filed yet
As reported by the AP news agency and local media, the pharmacist was fired. No charges have been filed yet. The man is being investigated on suspicion of deliberately endangering others and tampering with a prescription drug.
The motive for the act was initially unclear. According to the hospital, the suspect removed the vaccine vials from the refrigerator on December 24 and left them outside overnight. On December 25, he took the blisters out of the refrigerator again and did not put them back. Another Aurora Medical Center employee discovered the blisters on the morning of December 26.
Initially, the pharmacist claimed that he had taken the vials out of the refrigerator in order to gain access to something in the refrigerator. After several interviews, the man admitted that the vaccine had been stored for two consecutive nights at room temperature.
The Modena corona vaccine was approved in the United States on December 19. Shortly before, the corona vaccine developed by Mainz-based pharmaceutical company Biontech and its US partner Pfizer had already received emergency approval in the United States.
