Public health officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have issued an advisory to clinicians highlighting reports of errors in the administration of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccines in young children and pregnant women. This call for increased vigilance follows the recent approval of two new adult RSV vaccines and nirsevimab (Beyfortus), injectable RSV monoclonal antibody preventive for infants and young children. Reports of these errors came through the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) managed by the CDC. The report detailed events involving children below two years of age who were mistakenly given Abrysvo by Pfizer or Arexvy by GSK. Although these instances were relatively rare, with only 25 reported cases, they were most common in children below eight months of age and typically happened in outpatient settings.
To further complicate matters, around 128 pregnant women also received Arexvy in error, again commonly while in outpatient settings or at pharmacies. The approved vaccine for pregnant women to protect their young against RSV infection is Abrysvo. Despite these administration errors, according to CDC’s advisory to clinicians, most cases have not led to adverse events, and when such events did occur, they were classified as non-serious in VAERS.
The advisory also reiterates the ongoing efforts of various federal agencies, including the CDC and FDA, in ensuring the safety of RSV vaccines and monitoring reports of vaccine application errors. This important information will then be disseminated publicly to inform strategies moving forward. There also were specific guidelines given for clinicians who have made vaccine administration mistakes, with an emphasis on providing Beyfortus doses to children mistakenly given an RSV vaccine and infants under eight months of age, born to pregnant women given Arexvy by mistake, particularly during RSV season.