Incident 40450

Jeffrey SchweersCapital Bureau

Chattahoochee police are investigating the reported theft of two vials of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine from Florida State Hospital, which has been embroiled in controversy in this small rural community hit hard by the pandemic.

The state’s largest public mental health hospital reported the theft from its medical service unit Tuesday to the Chattahoochee Police Department, which sent two officers out to investigate.

The case may be the nation’s first publicly reported incident involving stolen vaccine doses. The case is still an open investigation, a police official said.

Officials with the Department of Children and Families, which operates FSH, said they were looking into questions by USA TODAY NETWORK-Florida but had no immediate answers. Likewise, the Department of Health and Division of Emergency Management did not immediately provide answers to questions posed to them.

A Moderna vial contains 10 doses of the vaccine
Moderna vials contain 10 doses, and the company was charging $32-$37 per dose. But the report filed with Chattahoochee Police said each vial was worth $5,000 for a total of $10,000.

According to a news release from Moderna, the vaccine remains stable at 36° to 46°F, the temperature of a standard home or medical refrigerator, for 30 days.

The vaccine remains stable at -4°F for up to six months, at refrigerated conditions for up to 30 days and at room temperature for up to 12 hours, the company said.

This is not the first time the state mental hospital, which is operated by the Department of Children and Families, has had problems related to COVID-19. Members of the community objected to plans to make FSH the main facility for mental health patients who tested positive for COVID-19, concerned it would affect the town’s COVID rate.

Nurses and other staff complained about unsafe working conditions at the sprawling institution.

After four patients died over the summer, DCF Secretary Chad Poppell ordered an inspection of on-site operations, as well as mandatory testing of all staff and residents.

Hospital at 64% capacity
Florida State Hospital has 223 buildings spread out over 620 acres in north Gadsden County, near the Georgia border.

Residential units are divided into civil services and forensic services, with 490 beds in civil and 469 in forensics. The hospital has more than 830 staff.

It is at 64% capacity, according to the Agency for Health Care Administration.

As of Jan. 7, the hospital had 2 residents and 22 staff members with COVID-19, according to the Department of Children and Families, which oversees and operates the facility. At least 18 residents have died at the hospital since the pandemic began.

Federal and state officials around the country have stepped up security surrounding COVID-19 vaccine shipments to protect it from black marketeers who could profit from the scarce but in high demand vaccine, and anti-vaxxers who would destroy it.

The U.S. Immigrations Customs and Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations in November announced it launched Operation Stolen Promise 2.0, “the next phase of strategic efforts to identify and prevent the production, sale and distribution of unapproved or unauthorized COVID-19 products and drugs,” the agency said.

“Hospitals understand that the COVID-19 vaccines are an extremely precious resource,” and are accustomed to safeguarding medications that can be potential targets for theft, said Mary Mayhew, president and CEO of the Florida Hospital Association.

“As with controlled substances, hospitals are following a documented chain of custody for the vaccines. This process includes multiple sign-offs – when the vaccine is delivered, when it leaves the pharmacy, and when it is administered to the patient,” Mayhew said. “Many hospitals are also providing added security personnel at all vaccine distribution sites. Routine audits to ensure count accuracy are also being conducted.”

Very few cases of theft or tampering have been reported to date. A Milwaukee pharmacist and self-described “conspiracy theorist” was arrested in late December an charged with the destruction of some 550 doses of the Moderna vaccine.

Stephen Brandenburg, 46, intentionally removed vials of the vaccine from the refrigerator where he worked, leaving them out for more than 12 hours, potentially rendering the vaccine ineffective, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.

He believed the vaccine could change people’s DNA, police said. It cannot alter people’s DNA, and is perfectly safe, said scientists who sit on the FDA’s Vaccine and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee.

“As a scientist, I think they are going to be very, very safe,” said Dr. Paul Spearman, Director of the Division of Infectious Diseases at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center