The group was to receive the Moderna vaccine.
More than 30 people have mistakenly received treatment with Regeneron monoclonal antibodies instead of the Moderna vaccine, the West Virginia National Guard announced on Thursday
Forty-two people received the antibody product, intramuscularly, at a vaccination clinic hosted by Boone County Health Department staff. The treatment, which was granted emergency use by the Food and Drug Administration in November, is normally given as an intravenous infusion.
“It was established that this was an isolated incident,” Boone County Health Department administrator Julie Miller told ABC News.
Medical experts in the interagency joint working group do not believe there is any risk of injury to these 42 people, and all people who received the monoclonal antibody have been contacted or are being contacted, according to the West Virginia National Guard.
Regeneron is a cocktail of drugs made up of antibodies designed to fight COVID-19. The drug was administered to President Donald Trump when he became ill with the virus.
“When we were notified of what had happened, we acted immediately to correct it and immediately revised and strengthened our protocols to improve our distribution process, to prevent this from happening again.” General James Hoyer, Adjutant General of the West Virginia National Guard, said in a press release.
As there are 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 postponed for at least 90 days, as a precautionary measure until further information becomes available to avoid interference with antibody treatment with vaccine-induced immune responses. “
However, despite the CDC’s recommendation, the West Virginia National Guard told ABC News that “there are no concerns that this will cause individuals to go back 90 days” and that “all 42 people are being vaccinated today.” “.
Miller said the Boone Department of Health will continue to work closely with the State National Guard and the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources to review all internal policies and procedures.
“Although this injection is not harmful, it has been replaced with the vaccine. But this event gives our management team an important opportunity to review and improve the safety and vaccination process for every West Virginian,” said Dr. Clay Marsh, COVID of the state. 19 tsar, he said.
Sony Salzman and Sasha Pezenik of ABC News contributed to this report.