Dr. Jeff Bahr, president of Aurora Health Care Medical Group in Wisconsin, revealed Thursday that the culprit behind the destruction had not only taken the vials out of refrigeration overnight Friday as first thought but had also done so the previous night – before returning them to the fridge before they were caught.
Because hospital officials were previously unaware of this, the doses were given to 57 people before the remainder was discarded.
Aurora Medical Center Grafton is now working with Moderna to determine how the affected individuals can now be vaccinated safely after receiving the ineffective dose.
Over the weekend, 57 vials – or 570 doses – of the Moderna vaccine had to be thrown out after the worker from Aurora Health Care took the vials from a clinic refrigerator in Grafton.
The medical center originally said the doses ‘were inadvertently removed from a pharmacy refrigerator overnight,’ but on Wednesday said the employee had acted ‘intentionally’.
The pharmacist was fired from the hospital and an investigation has been launched by Grafton Police and the FBI.