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(CNN) ––
A Wisconsin hospital worker is accused of intentionally removing 57 vials of a COVID-19 vaccine from a refrigerator over the past week, officials said Wednesday.
The action forced the hospital to discard those vials and prompted an investigation by police and the FBI, authorities added.
The removal of the vials from the refrigerator at Aurora Medical Center, north of Milwaukee, and the subsequent need to dispose of them on Saturday, means more than 500 doses were lost, Advocate Aurora Health said.
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“This was a violation of our core values.
And the individual is no longer our employee, "said a press release from the hospital system on Wednesday.
The destruction of the doses was widely reported earlier this week.
Precisely when the hospital system said it believed that Moderna's vaccine vials against covid-19 were "inadvertently removed from the pharmacy refrigerator" at the hospital.
But this Wednesday, the worker "acknowledged that he intentionally removed the vaccine from the refrigerator," reads the system's subsequent statement.
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"We have notified the appropriate authorities for further investigation ... We are more than disappointed that this person's actions result in more than 500 people having a delay in receiving their vaccine," the statement read.
Investigate incident with the vaccine in the hospital
Grafton police reported that the hospital system contacted them Wednesday night.
The report was about "an employee who handled the vials of the vaccine against covid-19."
"This matter is actively being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Food and Drug Administration and the Grafton Police Department," city police said.
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Neither the police nor the health system have publicly discussed a motive.
The health system said it would hold a press conference on the matter on Thursday.
CNN has requested comment from the FBI.
Moderna says that its vaccine should generally be stored at temperatures lower than what a refrigerator can provide.
But it can also last 30 days in normal refrigeration.
This allows hospitals and pharmacies flexibility for the storage and distribution of the vaccine.
The hospital system has not said how long it has been since the vials were removed from the refrigerator and when they were discovered.
The vaccine can last up to 12 hours outside of a refrigerator, according to Moderna.
An unspecified number of the removed vials were used to vaccinate some staff members within the 12-hour window, the hospital said.
"Unfortunately, most of it had to be discarded," the initial hospital statement said.
Dave Alsup and Andrea Diaz, both from CNN, contributed to this report.
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