BOONE COUNTY, W.V. — More than 40 people in West Virginia mistakenly received the COVID-19 antibody treatment instead of the vaccine. Health officials say they are not in any risk, and will receive the first dose of the vaccine.
“All individuals have been contacted and we do not believe there is any risk of harm. It has been determined that this was an isolated incident,” a statementfrom Boone County Health Department reads.
The mix-up happened at the health department on December 30 during a vaccination clinic they were holding. In all, they say 42 people received the Regeneron COVID-19 antibody product who thought they were receiving the vaccine.
Health officials say all of those affected were offered the vaccine Thursday.
“The moment that we were notified of what happened, we acted right away to correct it, and we immediately reviewed and strengthened our protocols to enhance our distribution process to prevent this from happening again,” said Maj. Gen. James Hoyer, Adjutant General of the West Virginia National Guard, in a written statement. “I remain incredibly proud of all that our team has accomplished. Our number one goal has been to save lives, and, as we continue to ramp up distribution of the vaccine all across the state, we continue to save more and more lives every single day.”
The National Guard is overseeing the planning and logistics for distributing the vaccine.
Officials have not explained how the antibody and vaccine mix-up happened at this time.
Almost 8,000 people in West Virginia were vaccinated on Wednesday. In the country, almost 2.8 million people have received the vaccine of the more than 12.4 million doses distributed to states.