New York teacher is arrested for allegedly administering a Covid-19 vaccine at her home

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By Alisha Ebrahimji, CNN

A teacher in New York was arrested on New Year’s Eve for allegedly unlawfully administering an injection that detectives believe was a Covid-19 vaccine, police say.

Laura Russo, 54, allegedly administered the vaccine at her home in Sea Cliff, Long Island, 30 miles northeast of New York City, to a 17-year-old boy, Nassau County Police said in a news release. Police also said that the boy’s mother had not given permission for her son to be vaccinated. In New York, the minimum age at which a person can get a Covid-19 vaccine without parental consent is 18, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonprofit group that researches health care and other issues.

After returning home, the teen told his mother what had happened and she called the police​, according to the news release. After an investigation, detectives said they found that “Russo is not a medical professional or authorized to administer vaccines,” so she was placed under arrest without incident.

Russo was issued a ticket to appear in court and released, according to the news release.

CNN has reached out to Russo for comment but has not heard back.

Russo was a science teacher at Herricks High School, according to an archived version of her bio on the school’s website. The page did not appear to be live as of Tuesday afternoon.

“The individual in question is a district employee who has been removed from the classroom and reassigned pending the outcome of the investigation,” Superintendent of Herricks Public Schools Fino Celano told CNN in a statement Tuesday. “The alleged incident is non-school related.”

It’s unclear how or where Russo obtained the Covid-19 vaccine allegedly administered to the teen.

Russo is charged with unauthorized practice of a profession, according to police, under New York state’s education law. She is due back in court on January 21.

Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated the location of Sea Cliff, New York. Sea Cliff is northeast of New York City.

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