A high school biology teacher in Long Island was arrested after administering a Covid vaccination to a 17-year-old student. The boy, who is a friend of the teacher's son, received a dose of the Johnson & Johnson shot in her living room.
But the teacher, 54-year-old Laura Russo, isn't medically qualified to administer vaccines, according to The Washington Post, and she injected the teen without his parents' consent.
When he went home, he told his mother, who called the police.
From The Washington Post:
Federal health authorities say proper vaccine administration by a trained medical professional is essential for safe and effective vaccination — with any vaccine. But this is especially true with the coronavirus vaccines because the messenger RNA technology requires specialized training, said Monica Gandhi, an infectious-disease expert at the University of California at San Francisco. …
It is unclear whether the teen was monitored after receiving the shot and where the teacher got the vaccine. Gandhi said that an individual cannot order the vaccine from the manufacturer; it must be ordered by a medical professional or health-care facility. …
Russo, who has been released from custody, is scheduled to appear in court Jan. 21, police said. The charge against her, unauthorized practice of a profession, is a felony that could carry up to four years in prison if she is convicted.
