The Wisconsin Medical Center, where 57 ampoules of the Moderna coronavirus vaccine were disposed of earlier this week, said in a statement Wednesday that the employee who removed the vaccines from the freezer did so “intentionally” and was no longer employed by the hospital. .
On Monday, hospital officials said about 50 vaccine bottles had to be thrown away after an employee at Advocate Aurora Health Medical Center in Grafton, Wis., “Accidentally” removed them from the pharmacy refrigerator, where they must be vaccinated. sheltered at low temperatures.
At the time, the incident was attributed to “human error”, but in a statement on Wednesday, the medical center said the vials were intentionally removed. According to the statement, the 57 ampoules that were thrown overnight led to the elimination of 500 doses of vaccine.
“We immediately launched an internal analysis and were determined to believe that this was caused by an involuntary human error. The person in question admitted today that he intentionally removed the vaccine from the refrigerator “, the hospital declared in Wednesday’s statement.
We are more than disappointed that the actions of this individual will lead to a delay of over 500 people receiving the vaccine. This was a violation of our core values, and the individual is no longer employed by us, “the hospital added.
The hospital said “competent authorities” had been notified to investigate the incident.
Despite the loss of hundreds of vaccines, a spokesman told The Hill on Monday that the hospital’s vaccine launch plan was not discontinued as vaccines were redirected from other medical facility locations.
According to the latest data from the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, 47,147 vaccines have been administered in the state to date.
“We continue to believe that vaccination is our way out of the pandemic,” the hospital said.
Wisconsin has confirmed more than 5,000 deaths and more than 15,000 cases since the pandemic began, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.