On December 26, 2020, the vaccines were discovered to have been removed overnight from refrigeration. On December 30 the hospital announced that the pharmacist involved admitted to deliberately removing the vials. On December 31 Dr Jay Bahr of
Aurora Health Care Medical Group told reporters that after multiple interviews the pharmacist had admitted removing the vials on the nights of December 24–25 and 25–26 and that the hospital had administered 57 of the affected doses before realizing how long they had been at room temperature. Dr Bahr said there was no evidence the pharmacist had tampered with the doses apart from removing them from refrigeration and that those who had been given the affected doses were notified. He said the hospital had consulted with
Moderna and been reassured that the spoiled doses would not harm those who received them but that the doses were rendered less effective or ineffective. He declined to comment on the motive of the pharmacist and also said that the pharmacist was no longer working for the hospital. He said that it was not a result of laxness in protocols but: "It's become clear that this was a situation involving a bad actor, as opposed to a bad process". ==Investigation==