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Authorities arrested a pharmacist in Milwaukee on Thursday for allegedly deliberately destroying hundreds of doses of the coronavirus vaccine by removing them from the refrigerator overnight.
In accordance with Associated Press, leaders in Wisconsin and other states are asking the Trump administration for more fees as healthcare workers and the elderly eagerly await the rescue vaccine.
Police in Grafton, about 20 miles (32 kilometers) north of Milwaukee, said the pharmacist was arrested on suspicion of reckless danger, prescription drug fraud and criminal damage to property. The pharmacist was fired and police said in a press release that he was in custody. Police say he has not yet been formally charged.
His motive remains unclear. Authorities believe he knew the damaged doses would be useless and that the people who received them would mistakenly believe they had been vaccinated.
Aurora Health Care Medical Group Chief Jeff Bahr told reporters during a teleconference Thursday afternoon that the pharmacist had deliberately recalled 57 vials containing hundreds of doses of Modern Cold Vaccine at Grafton Medical Center during the night. from December 24 to December 25, he put them back on and took them off again on the night of December 25. The vials contained various doses to vaccinate 570 people.
A technician found the vials out of the refrigerator on Saturday morning.
The Moderna vaccine is viable for 12 hours out of the fridge, so workers used the vaccine to vaccinate 57 people before discarding the rest. Police said the doses were worth between $ 8,000 and $ 11,000.
Bahr said health system officials became more suspicious of the pharmacist as they investigated the incident. After several interviews, the pharmacist admitted Wednesday that he had deliberately taken the vaccines overnight, Bahr said.
That means the doses people took on Saturday are useless, he added. Moderna told the Aurora Health Care medical group that there are no safety concerns, but that the hospital system is closely monitoring people who have received the damaged doses.
Bahr declined to comment on the pharmacist’s motives. He said the hospital security protocols are correct.
Source: Associated Press
