More than 150 infants and pregnant women have been given the wrong RSV vaccination since the rollout of the new vaccines last year.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a clinician warning on Monday informing healthcare providers of the mistakes, according to a report from the University of Minnesota’s Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy.
The RSV vaccine nirsevimab, also known by its brand name Beyfortus, received approval from the Food and Drug Administration in July as the first-ever vaccine against the respiratory disease safe for children under 2 years old.
Since the release of nirsevimab, 25 children have received the incorrect RSV vaccine, including Abrysvo, approved for pregnant women, and Arexvy, approved for adults over 60. There have also been 128 incidences of pregnant women mistakenly receiving Arexvy, which is not approved for pregnant or reproductive-age women.
According to the CIDRP report, the CDC said that most of the administration errors did not result in any serious adverse events. The report also indicated that most of the errors occurred in outpatient facilities, such as pharmacies.
Neither the CDC nor the FDA has responded to the Washington Examiner’s request for comment or verification.
The CDC estimates that up to 80,000 children younger than 5 in the United States are hospitalized due to RSV infection, with many of those being infants younger than 6 months and children under 2 with chronic lung problems. Symptoms of RSV may be mistaken for a common cold, such as runny nose, coughing, and wheezing but can progress to bronchiolitis or pneumonia if untreated.
The RSV vaccine for pregnant women is recommended for those between 32 and 36 weeks of pregnancy to protect the infant from birth up to six months.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Hesitancy about complications from vaccines has depressed vaccination rates in the United States and globally, with vaccination rates for RSV, flu, and COVID-19 being lower than public health experts anticipated.
As of January, the CDC reported that only 13.1% of pregnant women had received the Abrysvo vaccine since the product went to market in late September. As of November, nearly 21% of mothers reported that their infant older than eight months had received their first nirsevimab vaccine, with an additional 27% reporting that they “definitely plan” to vaccinate their children.
