Green Bay, Wisconsin (WBAY) – Aurora Medical Center officials say the employee is no longer with the company after an investigation revealed that the employee confessed to intentionally leaving dozens of vials of our manager’s COVID-19 vaccine overnight at the Grafton, Wisconsin, site.
According to a statement sent early Wednesday evening, Advocate Aurora Health officials said an internal review began immediately after they learned of the incident earlier this week, and they believed it was caused by human error. However, officials now say the person in question admitted on Wednesday that the vaccine was intentionally removed from the pharmacy refrigerator.
Related: COVID-19 Vaccine Protocols Exist, But They Don’t Eliminate ‘Human Error’
Company officials say they have informed the authorities for further investigations, saying that they are “very disappointed that this person’s actions will lead to more than 500 people delaying their vaccination.”
Once the vaccine is thawed, it cannot be re-frozen.
Additionally, Aurora officials say they continue to believe that vaccination is the way out of the pandemic, and that the measure was a violation of their core values.
A previous report mentioned 50 bottles were left when an employee removed them from the refrigerator to access other items and failed to return them overnight on Friday.
However, company officials increased that number to 57, saying it had resulted in the elimination of more than 500 doses of the vaccine.
The employee has not been recognized by Aurora officials.
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