Vaccines intentionally removed from hospital refrigerator, employee fired
Click here for updates on this story
GRAFTON, Wisconsin (WISN ) — The FBI and the Food & Drug Administration are investigating the person who left 57 vials of the Moderna vaccine out of a pharmacy refrigerator at Aurora Medical Center-Grafton.
Advocate Aurora Health now says it was an intentional act.
After an internal investigation, it was first believed to be human error.
The person in question Wednesday admitted they intentionally removed the vaccine from refrigeration.
That person is no longer employed, Advocate Aurora Health said in a news release.
More than 500 doses of the vaccine had to be thrown out.
The Moderna vaccine can be out of refrigeration for 12 hours.
“We are more than disappointed that this individual’s actions will 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,” Advocate Aurora Health said.
Advocate Aurora Health said it notified the proper authorities.
Grafton police said Aurora Corporate Security called them at 6:18 p.m. Wednesday about an employee tampering with the vials of COVID-19 vaccine.
It said it was investigating, along with the federal agencies.
More information was expected to be released Thursday.
WISN 12 News also reached out to Wisconsin DHS, the Ozaukee County district attorney’s office and Gov. Evers’ office.
None of those offices are commenting on the case at this time.
Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.