Police have arrested a New York school teacher for allegedly injecting a 17-year-old boy with what is believed to have been a COVID-19 vaccine, two news outlets are reporting.
The jab by Laura Russo took place on New Year’s Eve at her Long Island home without the consent of the boy’s parents, the Nassau County Police Department said in a statement.
“According to detectives, defendant Laura Parker Russo, 54, was at her home residence where she administered an injection of what is believed to be a COVID vaccine to a 17-year-old male victim,” the statement noted.
“The male victim went home and informed his mother what had occurred. The mother had not given permission or authority to have her son injected with a COVID vaccine and called police. After an investigation was conducted, it was discovered that defendant Laura Parker Russo is not a medical professional or authorized to administer vaccines and was placed under arrest without incident.”
Police said she was charged with “unauthorized practice of a profession.”
Both the New York Post and NBC News 4 identified Russo as a teacher.
The school district superintendent in Nassau County said Russo been reassigned from the classroom pending the outcome of the investigation, NBC News 4 reported.
Authorities allege Russo had a vial of an approved COVID-19 vaccine in her home, the outlet reported. But police didn’t say where she got it.
News 4, attributing the information to officials, said her son had an unidentified friend over and the friend asked for the vaccine.
A video of the shot being injected appears to show the teenager getting a dose of Johnson & Johnson vaccine, the station said. NBC News 4 noted the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is only approved for Americans 18 and over.