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A California health official is calling on clinicians to stop using a batch of Moderna coronavirus vaccine after half a dozen people experience allergic reactions.
More than 330,000 doses of the vaccine were distributed to 287 vendors across the state earlier this month.
However, after six recipients required medical attention at a mass vaccination site in San Diego for 24 hours,
The batch of vaccines – batch 041L20A – is currently under investigation and state epidemiologist Dr Erica S Pan, urged all sites to exchange vaccines in this batch for replacement doses.
Leading California epidemiologist Dr Erica S Pan has issued a statement urging no clinician to use Moderna coronavirus vaccines from a specific batch that may be linked to allergic reactions. On the picture; Pan in his office in Oakland, California, June 2020
Six healthcare workers at Tailgate Park’s ‘super vaccination station’ in San Diego (pictured) reportedly suffered ‘severe’ allergic reactions
A worker said she couldn’t feel her tongue and had neck pain within 15 minutes of the vaccine. Pictured: San Diego’s ‘Super Vaccination Station’ at Tailgate Park
“Our goal is to deliver the COVID vaccine safely, quickly and fairly,” Pan wrote in a statement Sunday.
“A higher than usual number of possible allergic reactions have been reported with a specific lot of Moderna vaccine administered at a community vaccination clinic.
“ Out of extreme caution and also recognizing the extremely limited supply of vaccines, we recommend that suppliers use other available vaccine stocks and suspend administration of Moderna Lot 041L20A vaccines until investigated by the CDC, FDA, Moderna and the state is complete.
A spokesperson for the California Department of Public Health told DailyMail.com that the break was not mandatory and that all providers had the option of whether or not to implement it.
So far, Monterey, Santa Clara and Santa Cruz have suspended distribution and two COVID-19 vaccination clinics have been canceled in Stanislaus County over concerns over vaccine availability following reports of the reactions allergic.
On Monday, Santa Clara County was the first in the state to say that it will suspend the administration of the vaccines of the specific lot.
The shipment of 330,000 doses – about a tenth of the state’s total distribution – arrived in California between Jan. 5 and 12 and were sent to vendors across the state.
However, according to NBC 7 San Diego, all of the incidents happened at the “Super Vaccination Station” in Tailgate Park.
Tailgate Park is a 1,000-space parking lot adjacent to Petco Park, home to the San Diego Padres baseball team, which is designated for tailgating.
The stations report that during the standard 15-minute observation period, six health workers suffered from allergic reactions.
The California Department of Public Health defined the reactions as “serious,” but did not specify what they were.
Several local reports have confirmed that some people receiving their first dose of the vaccine have experienced anaphylactic shock, a severe and life-threatening reaction to a food, drug or even type of material allergy.
The immune system releases chemicals that flood the body, blood pressure suddenly drops, and the airways constrict, preventing someone from breathing normally.
Symptoms usually appear within a few minutes and include hives, a weak pulse, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, and swelling of the tongue or throat.
If not treated immediately, it can lead to death.
People with the condition are usually given epinephrine, a hormone that relaxes muscles in the airways, to treat their symptoms.
The Moderna vaccines at the drive-thru site have been replaced with replacement doses in case reactions are due to the specific lot. Pictured: Vials of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine sit on a table during a drive-thru COVID-19 vaccination clinic in Sonoma County, Calif., Jan.13
Officials are investigating the vaccine batch and no other vaccination sites have reported any adverse events. Pictured: A CalFire firefighter receives his first dose of Moderna vaccine in El Cajon, Calif., January 15
Health care worker Diana Cannizzo said she could no longer feel her tongue and had a pain in her neck after receiving the vaccine.
“ They gave me 50 milliliters of Benadryl and then they started to monitor me even more closely, ” she told NBC 7 San Diego.
“In the meantime, someone else had come in a stretcher.
Despite her reaction, Cannizzo said she always encourages others to get vaccinated.
“ I don’t want anybody to hear my story and decide, ‘Oh, I don’t want to take this vaccine because of what happened to her,’ she said.
“I had some underlying conditions from other medications. I don’t know if that came into play; maybe yes, maybe no, but anyone who has a lot of allergic reactions, maybe think about it and talk to their doctors.
Dr Eric McDonald, director of epidemiology for San Diego County, said vaccines at the drive-thru site had been replaced with replacement doses in case reactions were due to the specific lot.
No other supplier in any other region has reported allergic reactions to vaccines administered from this lot.
In a statement, Moderna said it coperate with the California Department of Health to investigate allergic reactions.
‘Moderna acknowledges having received a report from the California Department of Public Health that a number of people at a vaccination center were treated for possible allergic reactions after immunizing a batch of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine. ‘, the statement said.
“The company is cooperating fully with the CRPD to investigate these reported adverse events.”
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