Nearly 130 pregnant women and 25 children under age 2 were given the wrong respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The children were mistakenly administered either Pfizer’s Abrysvo or GSK’s (formerly GlaxoSmithKline) Arexvy RSV vaccines. Both are approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for adults ages 60 and older — but not for children or babies.
For babies, the CDC recommends a monoclonal antibody — nirsevimab (Beyfortus) — produced by AstraZeneca and Sanofi. The CDC also recommends Beyfortus for children ages 8-19 months who are at increased risk of severe RSV.
Although Arexvy and Abrysvo are approved for older adults, only Abrysvo is approved for pregnant women to prevent RSV in their babies. All of the 128 pregnant women who received the wrong vaccine were administered Arexvy.
RSV is a common respiratory virus that usually causes mild, cold-like symptoms.
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