Pharmacist accused of tampering with coronavirus vaccine was ‘admitted conspiracy theorist,' US police say

A pharmacist who was arrested on charges that he intentionally sabotaged more than 500 doses of the Covid-19 vaccine at a Wisconsin hospital was “an admitted conspiracy theorist” who believed the vaccine could harm people and “change their DNA,” according to the police in Grafton, Wisconsin, where the man was employed.

The police said Steven Brandenburg, 46, who worked the night shift at the Aurora Medical Center in Grafton, had twice removed a box of vials of the Moderna vaccine from the refrigerator for periods of 12 hours, rendering them “useless.”

Follow DH's coverage of the Covid-19 pandemic here

“Brandenburg admitted to doing this intentionally, knowing that it would diminish the effects of the vaccine,” the police said.

The attempt to destroy precious doses of the vaccine came over the holidays as the state worked to administer vaccines quickly to front line health care workers. As of Saturday, the state had received 159,800 doses of vaccines and had administered 64,657, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Although the Moderna product is sometimes described as a “genetic” vaccine, it does not alter a person’s genes in any way.

The vials, which contained 570 doses of vaccine and which prosecutors said were worth between $8,000 and $12,000, were discovered sitting out on Dec. 26. Five days later, Brandenburg was arrested on felony charges of reckless endangerment and property damage, though prosecutors on Monday said the charges could be dropped to a single misdemeanour if the vials, which have yet to be tested, are still usable.

Last month Brandenburg told his wife, who is in the process of divorcing him, that “the world is crashing down around us,” according to a motion she filed last week asking for sole custody of the couple’s two daughters, 4 and 6, after she learned he was under investigation.

The hospital has said that 57 people received injections of the compromised vaccine, but that Moderna had reassured officials that they would not harm the individuals who received them.

Hospital officials at first believed that the vials were left out inadvertently, but upon further investigation determined that the act had been intentional.