A Wisconsin hospital worker has been fired for intentionally removing the COVID-19 vaccine from a refrigerator, forcing the hospital to throw more than 500 doses. Aurora Medical Center – Grafton, outside Milwaukee, said Wednesday that 57 vials of the Modern vaccine were removed from a pharmacy refrigerator and left overnight.
The hospital initiated an investigation and was believed to be at fault for an unintentional human error, CBS 2 Chicago reported. But on Wednesday, the responsible worker admitted she did it on purpose, lawyer Aurora Health said.
The hospital said it had “notified the competent authorities for further investigation”.
“We continue to believe that vaccination is our way out of the pandemic,” advocate Aurora Health said in a statement. “We are more than disappointed that this individual’s actions result in a delay of more than 500 people receiving their vaccine. This was a violation of our core values and the individual is no longer employed by us.”
Grafton police said “no comment” when they called Marissa Parra of CBS 2 and asked if they were involved or investigating the incident.
Like the other vaccine approved for emergency use in the United States, manufactured by Pfizer, the Modern vaccine requires initial transport and storage at deep freezing temperatures, but can then be stored locally at more typical refrigeration temperatures for several days. before use.
Despite the stated goal of federal officials to immunize 20 million Americans later this year, according to COVID data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, only Thursday morning s ‘had distributed about 12 million doses and in fact less than 3 million had been administered.
Officials with health and human services, the Department of Defense and Operation Warp Speed, the army-led operation to administer vaccines across the country, told reporters on Wednesday that the administration of slower-than-expected shots it could be due in part to a delay in reporting, but they acknowledged that not all vaccine doses had reached their intended destinations.
Army General Gustave Perna, operations officer of Operation Warp Speed, admitted that some of the doses were still “on the road” as he spoke on Wednesday. However, he expressed confidence in the government’s efforts to inoculate Americans against the coronavirus.
“We’re really good, in my opinion, on distribution,” he said, contradicting CDC figures saying Wednesday that “more than 14 million doses of the vaccine have been distributed.”
Audrey McNamara of CBSNews.com contributed to this report.