(Reuters) – A Wisconsin pharmacist has agreed to plead guilty to intentionally trying to ruin hundreds of doses of COVID-19 Moderna vaccine in an attempt to make them ineffective, the US Department of Justice said.
Steven Brandenburg, 46, is charged with two counts of attempting to handle consumer products and reckless disregard for the risk of another person being put in danger of death or personal injury, according to the Justice Department statement.
He said bit.ly/3qUNXVI that he believed in various “conspiracy theories” and was skeptical of vaccines in general and the Moderna vaccine in particular.
The US Food and Drug Administration has considered the Modern vaccine safe and effective.
Brandenburg has signed a plea agreement to plead guilty to the charges, each of which carries a maximum sentence of ten years in prison, the statement added.
In late December, he intentionally removed a box of COVID-19 vaccine in two successive night shifts from a refrigerator at Aurora Medical Center in Grafton, Wisconsin, so that it could destroy its effectiveness, according to the statement.
He left them outside for a few hours before putting them back in the refrigerator for use by the clinic the next day, the statement said, adding that 57 people had already received doses of the vaccine from those vials before the conduct was discovered. to.
The Moderna vaccine must be stored and shipped frozen, but does not require ultra-cold temperatures and can be stored for 30 days in standard temperature refrigerators.
Reporting of Bhargav Acharya in Bengaluru; Montages of Raju Gopalakrishnan