Authorities on Thursday arrested a Milwaukee suburban pharmacist on suspicion of deliberately ruining hundreds of doses of coronavirus vaccine by removing it from refrigeration for two nights.
Grafton Police Department said former lawyer Aurora Health’s pharmacist was arrested on suspicion of reckless danger, adulteration of prescription drugs and criminal damage to property.
The department said in a press release that it was in jail. Police have not identified the pharmacist, saying he has not yet been formally charged.
Attorney Aurora Health Care, head of medical group Jeff Bahr, told reporters during a teleconference Thursday afternoon that the pharmacist deliberately removed 57 vials of the Modern vaccine from refrigeration during the night of Dec. 24-25. he returned them and left them again on the night of December 25th to Saturday.
A pharmacy technician discovered the vials outside the refrigerator on Saturday morning. Workers used the vaccine to inoculate 57 people. Bahr said his doses were ineffective. He said the recipients should not be in danger, but the system monitors their conditions.
“It was a situation that involved a bad actor, rather than a bad process,” he said.
The Grafton facility had not received any Modern vaccines before Dec. 24, meaning the pharmacist would not have had a chance to manipulate any other vials, he added.
“We continue to believe that vaccination is our way out of the pandemic. We are more than disappointed that the actions of this individual result in a delay of more than 500 people receiving the vaccine, “the health system said in a statement.
The number of COVID-19 cases in Wisconsin has been rising in recent days after falling in early December. The State Department of Health Services reported 3,810 recently confirmed cases on Thursday, marking the third consecutive day of increased daily infections. Now the state has seen 481,102 cases.
COVID-19 was a factor in 41 more deaths, bringing the overall death toll in the state to 4,859. The survival rate remained unchanged at 99%.