Moderna vaccine lot flagged by California officials used at mass vaccination event
Just hours after California's top epidemiologist recommended pausing the use of COVID-19 vaccines from Moderna's lot 041L20A due to "possible allergic reactions" that are under investigation, Mendocino County officials discovered that the batch in question was used at a mass vaccination event in San Diego.
"The county has reviewed the lot numbers administered through our mass vaccination clinics as well as the inventory stored in our freezer. Upon further review, we are confirming that 100 doses of Mendocino County Public Health's Moderna vaccine associated with the batch the state is concerned with were used at a vaccination event at the Redwood Empire Fairgrounds on January 7th," Mendocino County vaccine coordinator Adrienne Thompson said in a statement Monday night.
According to Thompson, all 100 doses were administered at the event and comprised a separate order from the state. No adverse reactions occurred.
"County staff will be contacting all 100 individuals that received a vaccine with this lot number to alert them of the recall," Thompson said. "No other side effects have been noted from use of this vaccine."
Mendocino County's public health officer, Dr. Andrew Coren, said events such as this are not unexpected because these are new vaccines, and it should not deter the public from getting vaccinated.
"This isolated event has not increased the percentage of vaccine reactions, which continue to be about one person in 100,000," Coren said in a statement Monday night. "Getting vaccinated continues to be the best way for all of us to help move beyond this virus and return to a normal way of life."