The group would receive the Moderna vaccine.
More than three dozen people mistakenly received the Regeneron treatment with monoclonal antibodies instead of the Moderna vaccine, the West Virginia National Guard announced Thursday.
Forty-two people received the antibody product intramuscularly at a vaccination clinic hosted by Boone County health department staff. The treatment, which was approved for emergency use by the Food and Drug Administration in November, is normally given as an intravenous infusion.
“It has been determined that this was an isolated incident,” Julie Miller, an administrator for the Boone County Health Department, told ABC News.
Medical experts from the Joint Interagency Task Force do not believe there is any risk of harm to these 42 individuals, and according to the West Virginia National Guard, all individuals who received the monoclonal antibody have been contacted or contacted.
Regeneron is a drug cocktail made up of antibodies designed to fight COVID-19. The drug was administered to President Donald Trump when he became ill with the virus.
“The moment we were made aware of what had happened, we immediately acted to correct it, and we immediately revised and strengthened our protocols to improve our distribution process to prevent this from happening again,” said Major General James Hoyer, adjutant general of the West Virginia National Guard, said in a press release.
Because there is currently no data on the safety and efficacy of COVID-19 mRNA vaccines in individuals who have received monoclonal antibodies as part of COVID-19 treatment, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that ‘vaccination be at least 90 days should be postponed. , as a precautionary measure until additional information becomes available, to avoid interference of antibody treatment with vaccine-induced immune responses. “
Despite the CDC’s recommendation, the West Virginia National Guard told ABC News that “there are no concerns that this will bring individuals back to 90 days” and that “all 42 individuals will be offered the vaccine today.”
Miller said the Boone Health Department will continue to work closely with the National Guard and the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources to review all internal policies and procedures.
“While this injection is not harmful, it replaced the vaccine. But this incident represents a significant opportunity for our leadership team to review and improve the safety and vaccination process for every West Virginiaan,” said Dr. Clay Marsh, the state’s COVID. 19 Tsar, said.
Sony Salzman and Sasha Pezenik from ABC News contributed to this report.