California health officials are asking vaccine suppliers to stop administering a batch of Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine after an exceptionally high number of adverse reactions have been linked to the drug.
Doses of Moderna Lot 041L20A are suspected of causing a “Higher than normal number of adverse events” and it must be shelved until a proper investigation can be conducted, said the California Department of Public Health on Sunday.
State epidemiologist Dr. Erica S. Pan said in a statement that “Less than 10 individuals” suffered “A possible serious allergic reaction” and needed medical attention in the last 24 hours after the injection of the specific vaccine lot. All the incidents appear to have occurred at a single community clinic that managed the lot. The site would have closed for several hours after the sequence of adverse reactions occurred, before switching to a different batch of the drug.
“Out of extreme caution and also recognizing the extremely limited supply of vaccine, we are recommending that providers use another available vaccine inventory,” said the health officer.
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More than 330,000 doses of the same batch of Moderna vaccine have been distributed to 287 suppliers across the state, but this is the first time that health officials have received reports detailing the adverse reactions associated with the batch, according to Pan.
While recognizing that “There is less data on adverse reactions related to the Modern vaccine,” the state epidemiologist said it is rare for vaccines to trigger serious side effects.
Modern, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are reviewing the batch and all relevant medical data.
The Covid-19 jab has been associated with other cases of serious medical emergencies. In December, a doctor in Boston said he suffered one of the worst allergic reactions he had ever experienced after receiving the Moderna vaccine, describing the episode as potentially fatal.
Similar cases related to the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine were referred to the CDC and the FDA for review.
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