A Wisconsin medical facility worker intentionally destroyed 500 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, health officials say.
The medical worker removed 57 vials of the COVID-19 vaccine
Broward Health Hospital Administers First Of Its Moderna Vaccine FORT LAUDERDALE, FLORIDA - DECEMBER 23: Leonida Lipshy, RN in the COVID unit at the Broward Health Medical Center, prepares to inoculate a frontline caregiver with a Moderna COVID-19 vaccine on December 23, 2020 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Broward Health Medical Center began vaccinating frontline healthcare workers last week with the Pfizer-BioNtech COVID-19 vaccine and are continuing to inoculate frontline caregivers with both of the vaccines after the arrival of the Moderna.
On Saturday, the medical worker deliberately destroyed COVID-19 vaccine doses by removing more than 50 vials of the Moderna drug from the pharmacy freezer. According to The Sun, the Aurora Medical Center said they had fired the worker at their Grafton location for intentionally removing 57 vials of Moderna vaccines from the freezer.
The company said in a statement that they are more than disappointed with the Wisconsin worker's actions that would result in a delay of over 500 people receiving their COVID-19 vaccine.
It added that the action was a violation of their core values, and their company no longer employs the worker.
The Wisconsin worker admitted removing the COVID-19 vaccine, officials with the company said. After the initial review, the company released a statement saying that the incident resulted from an "unintended human error."
The police in Grafton have been notified regarding the incident, but the Medical Center has not yet disclosed any motive for the worker's actions. The FBI and FDA, aside from the local police, are involved in the investigation.
The Aurora Medical Center health workers are supposedly receiving the COVID-19 vaccines.
The Aurora Medical- Grafton was forced to throw out more than 500 doses after a Wisconsin hospital worker took 57 vials of Moderna vaccine out of a pharmacy refrigerator and left the vaccines overnight. An investigation was launched by the hospital and led to believe the action was unintentional human error, CBS 2 Chicago.
However, the worker admitted Wednesday of doing it on purpose, as per the Advocate Aurora Health. The hospital had "notified authorities for further investigation," it said.
Moderna requires initial transport and storage
CBC News reported that the Moderna vaccine is the same as the other vaccine for emergency use in the United States required to undergo initial transport and storage at deep-freeze temperatures. However, it can be stored locally at more typical refrigeration temperatures for several days before use.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's COVID Data Tracker, despite the federal officials' goal of vaccinating 20 million Americans by the end of 2020, only about 12 million doses were distributed by Thursday morning; fewer than 3 million had been administered.
On Wednesday, the Department of Defense and Operation Warp Speed - the military-led operation to deliver vaccines across the country told reporters that the shots' administration was slower than expected and could potentially be due to a lag in reporting. But the officials acknowledged that not all the COVID-19 vaccine disease reached their intended locations.
