Woman charged after attempted theft of vaccine in Detroit

DETROIT » A woman whom city officials described as a nurse has been charged in the theft of COVID-19 vaccines from a downtown Detroit convention center where mass vaccinations are taking place.

Saeedeh Elahi, 41, of Livonia, a Detroit suburb, was expected to be arraigned Wednesday on one count of larceny in a building, the Wayne County prosecutor’s office said in a statement.

Two syringes filled with the Moderna vaccine and two vaccination cards were taken Monday afternoon, the prosecutor’s office said.

The statement did not say Elahi works as a nurse, but city officials earlier said a nurse staffing COVID-19 vaccinations at the TCF Center was detained by police on suspicion of stealing two doses of the vaccine. The woman was stopped after another staff member at the TCF Center saw her take two syringes, Detroit Chief Operating Officer Hakim Berry said.

The nurse is employed by a firm that contracts with the city. No one missed getting vaccinated, Berry added.

“We have really tight controls with the security of the vaccine, from our central storage facility all the way to TCF and our handling and accounting of our vaccines by the hour at the beginning and end of the day,” he told The Detroit News. “Even when you administer a vaccine within the facility, we have a chain of custody form you have to sign off for.”

Detroit police officers are among about 200 people staffing vaccinations at the center.

“This past year has been extremely stressful for everyone,” Prosecutor Kym Worthy said. “There is some light at the end of the tunnel because of the various vaccines. State and local governments have been doing their level best to get vaccines to as many people as possible. This case should send a loud and clear message that this conduct is criminal and will be taken seriously.”