Hospital Worker Fired, Arrested After Intentionally Ruining Hundreds of Doses of COVID-19 Vaccine (UPDATE)

The person in question, who is indeed an idiot, is now facing several potential charges following the arrest. Previously, the employee had been fired.

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UPDATED 01/4/21 8:05 p.m. ET: According to court documents released on Monday, the ex-pharmacist in question, identified as Steven Brandenburg, believed the world was "crashing down," and that the vaccine would alter people's DNA. 

"He’d formed this belief [the vaccines] were unsafe," said Ozaukee County District Attorney Adam Gerol during a Monday virtual hearing, according to the AP. 

Gerol added that Brandenburg is going through a divorce. A fellow employee at Advocate Aurora Health also says he's twice brought a gun to work. 

In a probable cause statement a detective wrote that Brandenburg is a confessed conspiracy theorist who admitted that he purposely tried to destroy the vaccine(s) because he believed it could harm recipients by changing their DNA. 

Though it should go without saying, that statement is false, with the AP adding that "experts have said there is no truth to the claims that the vaccines can genetically modify humans."

Brandenburg initially said that the removal of the vials was accidental, and that it was caused by him forgetting to put them back after accessing other contents it the refrigerator in which they were stored. According to reports, he later said that was a lie. 

According to an affidavit filed by his wife on December 30, Brandenburg delivered a water purifier and two 30-day supplies of food to her home to prep because, in his mind, the world was "crashing down." She claimed that he also believed the government was planning to engage in cyberattacks and that it would shutdown the power grid. In addition to storing food, she says he was also stashing guns in rental units. 

The couple has two kids. 

During Monday's hearing, Gerol said that Moderna (the maker of the vaccine) will have to test the doses to confirm they're ineffective. That testing will have to be done before charges can be filed. 

In the meantime Brandenburg has been ordered to surrender his firearms, stay away from Aurora employees, and not work in healthcare. 

See original story below.

A hospital worker in Wisconsin who is said to have intentionally destroyed hundreds of doses of the COVID-19 vaccine was arrested this week.

In a statement shared on New Year's Eve, the Grafton Police Department announced the Advocate Aurora Health Hospital employee—who had already been fired—was arrested for tampering with and causing the destruction of 57 vials. Those vials, per police, contained approximately 570 doses.

"Grafton Police were called to the Advocate Aurora Health Hospital in Grafton on Wednesday, December 30, 2020, on a report that a former employee of the pharmacy had intentionally removed the vaccines from the refrigerated storage and left them to sit out overnight, rendering about 570 doses of the vaccine 'useless' according to health professionals," a police spokesperson said.

When the news of the destruction of doses first became public knowledge in late December, it was believed that the act was accidental. Upon further investigation, however, it was determined that it was intentional. Later, the former hospital worker admitted to intentionally removing the vaccine "know that if not properly stored the vaccine would be ineffective."

Potential charges against the idiot in question include first degree recklessly endangering safety, adulterating a prescription drug, and criminal damage to property. The idiot's identity has not been revealed by police.

Word of the arrest of the unidentified person, who we'll again remind you is an idiot, comes after a report from the Los Angeles Timesindicating that some healthcare workers have been declining to receive the vaccine despite early access. Those people are also idiots.

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