Yesterday, Allahpundit delved into the story of the Wisconsin hospital worker who was fired for “spoiling” more than 500 doses of vaccine by taking them out of the fridge and leaving them on the counter all night. I will confess that report confused me a little. I mean it had to be an accident, right? What kind of person would do this intentionally? But, it turns out, further investigation has revealed that the still unnamed worker has confessed to doing so on purpose. He has now been arrested and faces several charges. (WaPo)
A pharmacist accused of deliberately damaging more than 500 doses of coronavirus vaccine at a hospital outside Milwaukee was arrested Thursday afternoon, local authorities said.
Police in Grafton, Washington, arrested the unnamed man on recommended charges of recklessly endangering first-degree security, adulterating prescription drugs and criminal damage to property. According to a police department statement, he is being held at the county jail.
The alleged episode, at Aurora Medical Center in Grafton, Washington, sparked outrage across the country, as limited supply of shots is rationed for high-risk people. The estimated value of the doses, which authorities say reached $ 11,000, is evident compared to the protection they could have offered front-line health workers from the intensification of the pandemic.
This story is even stranger than it first appeared. According to police, the man admitted in writing that he had done the deed, noting that he was fully aware that if the vials were stored incorrectly. “the vaccine would be ineffectiveMy first thought was to ask myself why he confessed when he could just say he had made a mistake. I guess he may have explained his actions to someone else and reported it to the police or a supervisor.
To make matters worse, he didn’t do it just once. He did it twice. He reportedly left the vials outside on Christmas Eve, returned them to his refrigerated warehouse in the morning, and then did the same the following night. On Saturday, thinking they had only been out for one night and were still fine, the hospital rushed to use the vials to vaccinate “several dozen people.” But now it turns out that these people may not receive the full measure of expected immunity if they see any benefit. Presumably, these several dozen people will have to return to do another round of treatment.
What could have motivated this guy? This doesn’t sound like some kind of joke that even a very nasty person would throw away because there is no real benefit. I thought:ha ha, you thought you were vaccinated, but you are still vulnerable? ‘For a group of strangers? I guess there are some people who are simple evils that will cause chaos and damage just to do it, but even if that is the case here, it is a very strange way to cause problems.
Apparently, they do not contemplate accusing the boy of an attempted murder, but they will attempt a reckless danger. There are also a couple of pedestrian charges related to property damage and prescription drug adulteration. I guess that’s fair, and I wouldn’t be surprised if a court decided to throw the book at him just to set an example.
Meanwhile, although this does not appear to be intentional, 42 people in West Virginia were accidentally given antibody treatment when they believed they were receiving the vaccine. (The hill)
West Virginia officials accidentally gave 42 people COVID-19 antibody treatment instead of the Modern vaccine.
The West Virginia National Guard said in a statement that it “learned of a mistake” Wednesday that caused individuals to receive COVID-19 antibody treatment from Regeneron instead of the vaccine.
The state Department of Health says they do not believe the recipients are in any danger of receiving antibody treatment. All people who have received it will be called back and given the actual vaccine.
The funny thing about this snafu is that the antibody treatment is done through an intravenous line, not a quick injection with a syringe. Wouldn’t people who showed up looking for a vaccine notice that something was different? Maybe not, I guess, especially if they don’t work in the healthcare field. But what about the clinic workers? If they knew they were supposed to be administering vaccines and were suddenly told to start connecting patients to an intravenous line, wouldn’t they ask questions?
I guess we can’t go down too much to the clinic. This is one of the biggest releases of a brand new vaccine the nation has ever seen. There were probably some inconveniences along the way. We just hope none of them turn out to be a literally fatal mistake.