A Long Island biology teacher has been placed on leave after video footage emerged of her jabbing her son’s 17-year-old friend with a Covid-19 vaccine at her home without his parent’s permission.
The video, which started circulating on Monday, shows Laura Parker Russo, 54, cleaning the unidentified teen’s skin as she prepared to administer a dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine into his right arm.
“There you go, at-home vaccine,’ the teen can be heard saying as he sits in a chair while Russo wipes his arm. The video is captioned with “never been so uncomfy in his life.” Watch the clip below:
The teacher stuck the J&J vaccine, which is only approved for Americans 18 years or older, into the boy’s arm on New Year’s Eve, police said. According to officials, the teenager asked for the vaccine because his mother allegedly didn’t want to have him vaccinated against Covid. It is not yet known how Russo obtained the vaccine without any medical qualifications and cops are now investigating the matter.
Police said Russo is not a medical professional and is not authorized to administer vaccines.
She was placed under arrest without incident and has been charged with New York State Education Law Unauthorized Practice of a Profession, the department said.
The Nassau County School District told NBC News 4 that Russo has been reassigned from the classroom pending the outcome of the investigation into the allegations against her.
The school district said that the allegations were not related to the school she worked at, however, and noted that the incident did not occur on school property.
“The individual in question is a district employee who has been removed from the classroom and reassigned pending the outcome of the investigation,” the district said.
