Three Year Sentence for Pharmacist Who Damaged Covid Vaccines

A US federal judge has sentenced Wisconsin pharmacist Steven Brandenburg to three years in prison for intentionally trying to damage hundreds of Covid-19 vaccines, local media report. The case carried out by this professional caused a commotion at the beginning of the year at the beginning of the vaccination programme against the Covid and when the United States was registering a high number of infections and deaths due to the pandemic.

Brandenburg, a pharmacist practising in the city of Grafton, removed hundreds of doses of the Moderna vaccine from the refrigerators of the medical centre where he worked with the intention of ruining its effectiveness, according to his own plea signed in January when the event was uncovered. The 46-year-old defendant was sentenced on Tuesday, June 8, to 36 months in prison followed by three years of probation. He was also ordered to pay approximately $83,800 (€68,810) in compensation to the affected hospital, from the Advocate Aurora Health group.

Brandenburg came to recognise that he is sceptical of vaccines, based on his guilty plea and had repeatedly communicated this to his co-workers for the past two years. In addition, he had specific doubts about the vaccine manufactured by the Moderna pharmaceutical company. The professional worked nights and during a series of shifts left the vaccines for hours at room temperature before returning them to the refrigerator for use in the hospital the next day.

Fifty-seven patients received injections of the vaccine that Brandenburg attempted to sabotage before officials discovered his actions and intervened. Aurora Medical employees said during the process that those doses of the vaccine were believed to be completely effective, even though they were not refrigerated according to standard procedures.