A pharmacist dilutes the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine as he prepares it to administer to the staff and residents of Goodwin House Bailey’s Crossroads, an elderly community in Falls Church, Virginia, on December 30, 2020.
Brendan Smialowski | AFP | Getty Images
Dozens of people in West Virginia mistakenly received Regeneron’s Covid-19 antibody treatment instead of the Modern vaccine, the West Virginia National Guard announced on Thursday.
The state National Guard said 42 people received the treatment, which is administered intravenously, at a vaccination clinic in the Boone County Health Department. The National Guard said it learned of the mistake on Wednesday.
Everyone who received the antibody treatment instead of the vaccine, which is given through an injection in the arm, was contacted, Julie Miller, administrator of the Boone County Health Department, told CNBC via email. She added that “we do not believe there is any risk of harm”.
Regeneron’s monoclonal antibody treatment, which needs to be administered intravenously, is seen as a promising treatment for Covid-19 – especially when given early in the course of the infection. But the confusion in West Virginia is just one example of confusion in the race to distribute the vaccine to tens of millions of people. The launch was slower than expected and marked by logistical challenges.
“It was determined that this was an isolated incident,” said Miller. “All affected individuals will receive the COVID-19 vaccine today.”
She said the health department will work closely with the state National Guard and the Department of Health and Human Resources to review its policies and procedures.
Miller did not provide details about what caused the confusion.
Representatives from the West Virginia National Guard and the West Virginia governor’s office did not return CNBC’s request for further comment on how the error occurred.
Major General James Hoyer, deputy general to the West Virginia National Guard, said in a statement that his troops “acted immediately” to correct the error as soon as they found out what happened. “We immediately reviewed and strengthened our protocols to improve our distribution process to prevent this from happening again,” he said in a statement.
He added that the state will continue to increase the distribution of the vaccine “to save more and more lives every day”.
Dr. Clay Marsh, the state’s Covid-19 czar, noted in a statement that the wrongly administered Regeneron treatment instead of the vaccine is the same product “that was administered to President Trump when he was infected”.
“Although this injection is not harmful, it has replaced the vaccine,” he said. “But this occurrence offers our leadership team an important opportunity to review and improve the safety and vaccination process for each West Virginia.”