US Pharmacist Admits Attempt To Destroy Hundreds Of COVID-19 Vaccine Doses - Justice Dept.

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 27th January, 2021) A pharmacist in the US state of Wisconsin pleaded guilty to charges he attempted to make hundreds of COVID-19 vaccine doses ineffective by deliberately removing vials from a storage freezer, the Justice Department said in a press release.

"While working as a hospital pharmacist in Grafton, Wisconsin, on two successive overnight shifts in late December, [Steven] Brandenburg purposefully removed a box of COVID-19 vaccine vials manufactured by Moderna - which must be stored at specific cold temperatures to remain viable - from the hospital's refrigeration unit intending to render the vaccines inert and no longer effective," the release said on Tuesday.

After leaving the vaccines out for several hours each night, Brandenburg returned the vaccines to the freezer to be used in the hospital's vaccine clinic the following day. Before the full extent of Brandenburg's conduct was discovered, 57 people received doses of the vaccine from these vials, the release said.

Brandenburg said that he was skeptical of vaccines in general and the Moderna vaccine specifically - beliefs he had expressed to coworkers for the past two years, the release added.

Brandenburg faced two charges of tampering with consumer products to threaten others with death or bodily injury. Each count carries a maximum sentence of ten years in jail, according to the release.