California’s top epidemiologist told health professionals on Sunday to stop using a batch of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine after “more than normal” numbers of people had apparent allergic reactions at a San Diego vaccination clinic .
Dr. Erica Pan, a state epidemiologist, said on Sunday that “out of extreme caution,” providers should stop using doses until federal, state and company officials complete the investigation.
California received about 330,000 doses of the Moderna batch in question – about 10% of all vaccines, both from Moderna and Pfizer, which were distributed at Golden State, officials said.
The apparent allergic reactions occurred at the San Diego County drive-through mass vaccination site in Petco Park, said California Department of Public Health spokesman Darrel Ng.
A “larger than normal” number of patients who received the vaccine appeared to be suffering from allergic reactions. Her symptoms were severe and required medical attention, Pan said.
Dr. Eric McDonald, San Diego County’s director of epidemiology, said during a live press conference on Wednesday that operations at Petco Park declined after six health workers who had just been vaccinated had apparent allergic reactions.
“That number, grouped together, was slightly higher than expected for the period,” said McDonald. He said health care providers had switched the batch of vaccines they were administering, “in the event of possible reactions” that the reactions were connected.
“Any vaccination, be it the COVID vaccination or the flu vaccination at your doctor’s office, should be given under medical supervision,” said McDonald. “In this case, with a new vaccine, there are very specific guidelines that all places that administer the vaccine must follow.
This includes monitoring patients after the injection is given for at least 15 minutes, and more time in cases where patients have a medical condition that can lead to an allergic reaction.
The Petco Park website has the capacity to administer 5,000 doses per day. It is one of several mega-sites that opened in California last week, including a similar clinic at Dodger Stadium that city officials say will soon have a capacity of around 12,000 daily injections.
No other group of problems, or individual problems, have been reported with the Moderna lot, lot 041L20A, which has been distributed to 287 medical service providers across the state, officials said. The batch arrived in California between January 5 and 12.
“There are no immediate replacement doses during the break, other than pending orders scheduled for shipment in the coming days,” the state said in a statement sent to medical service providers.
Moderna did not immediately return a request for comment.