A teacher has escaped jail after she was filmed injecting a teenager with a Covid-19 jab without his parents' permission.
Laura Russo, 55, from New York, US, administered a dose of the Johnson and Johnson vaccine to a 17-year-old boy on New Years Eve in 2021.
The teacher, who taught biology at Herricks High School on Long Island, was arrested in January after the student told his parents.
The mum-of-six was sentenced to 200 hours of community service after she pleaded guilty to a misdemeanour count of attempting the unauthorised practice of medicine and a count of disorderly conduct.
Judge Howard Sturim said if the former teacher completes her community service, stays away from the teen, and finishes her weekly therapy, the misdemeanour charge will be removed.
A spokesman for Nassau County District Attorney's Office said the sentence was "based on the defendant's long-standing ties to the community and her lack of a criminal record."
Russo's lawyer, Gerard McCloskey, claimed it "was in the interest of justice as well as in my client's best interest."
The teacher was caught on camera by her son administering the vaccine to the student after she was given the vaccine from a pharmacist friend.
She had asked for an empty vial to use as a Christmas ornament.
Russo is seen cleaning the student's skin before injecting the dose into his right arm.
The boy can be heard saying: "There you go, at-home vaccine" after the vaccine was administered.
The Johnson and Johnson vaccine is only recommended for adults.
Police were informed after the student told his parents he had been given a Covid jab by his teacher.
Dr. Aaron Glatt, Mount Sinai South Nassau's chair of medicine, said the injection could have had serious repercussions as it was administered by an amateur and not a professional.
He told NBC: "'Besides being illegal, it's just not a smart thing to do. An authorized, licensed professional should be providing vaccines to know how to give them properly to make sure if there's a complication that can be dealt with immediately and very efficiently."
Fino Celano, Herricks Public Schools Superintendent, said ealier this year Russo was "removed from the classroom and reassigned" pending the outcome of the investigation.
She was later sacked from her job.
