Teacher accused of injecting teen with COVID-19 vaccine arrested

New York police arrested a Long Island teacher accused of forcefully injecting a student with a COVID-19 vaccine on New Year’s Eve.

Laura Russo, 54, was arrested last Friday at her home, Nassau County police said in a statement on Monday. She is charged with the unauthorized practice of a profession.

Russo was released from jail and has a court appearance on Jan. 21.

According to the police report, Russo, who is not a registered medical professional, injected the vaccine into a 17-year-old male at her residence when she was not authorized by the parent of the teenager to administer it.

The youth went home and told his mother he was vaccinated. The mother then notified police.

Russo, a biology teacher with Herricks Public Schools in New Hyde Park, was removed from the classroom and reassigned, the school district reported to local news outlets.

The teacher appears to have administered the vaccine to the teenager after he asked for the injection, according to police and a video obtained by NBC New York.

Russo’s son is friends with the teenager, and when the two were at Russo’s home, the teenager reported that his mother didn’t want him to get vaccinated just yet, so Russo gave it to him, police officials told NBC New York.

“There you go, at-home vaccine,” the teenager said in the video after he was vaccinated.

“There you go, at home vaccine”. Police have arrested a Long Island mother for illegally giving a 17 year old boy a shot of Covid vaccine in her home. And there’s video….Only on @NBCNewYork #nbc4ny pic.twitter.com/KpG5vAQaDT

— Pei-Sze Cheng (@PeiSzeCheng4NY) January 3, 2022

It’s unclear where Russo got the vaccine.

The Hill has reached out to the Nassau County Police Department and the local school district.