42 people in West Virginia received antibody instead of COVID vaccine

Forty-two people who expected to receive the COVID-19 vaccine instead received the antibody used to treat infections, the West Virginia National Guard said Thursday.

The warden said those affected arrived at a Boone County clinic to get the Moderna vaccine but accidentally received the Regeneron antibody, according to Fox News.

The antibody recipients were at no risk of harm, according to medical experts from the Joint Interagency Working Group, which coordinates the state’s immunization efforts.

“The moment we were made aware of what happened, we acted immediately to correct it, and we immediately reviewed and strengthened our protocols to improve our distribution process to prevent this from happening again,” Maj. Gen. James Hoyer, adjutant general of the West Virginia National Guard, said in a press release.

The errors, which came to light on Wednesday, occurred at a clinic hosted by the Boone County Health Department. All people who received the wrong injection have been contacted, the statement said.

President Donald Trump praised Regeneron for helping him cure him of COVID-19 after contracting the virus in November.

The Food and Drug Administration then approved the emergency use of the experimental treatment, which involves monoclonal antibodies or fabricated copies of antibodies created by the human body to help fight infections.

“The products administered are antibodies that fight COVID-19,” Dr. Clay Marsh, the state’s COVID-19 czar, said in the statement. “While this injection is not harmful, it has been replaced by the vaccine. But this event provides our management team with an important opportunity to review and improve the safety and the vaccination process for every West Virginian.”

The Guard said no further vaccine shipments were affected and the working group had reviewed and strengthened all vaccine-related protocols.