Moderna said Tuesday it is investigating reported allergic reactions from a batch of COVID-19 vaccine after California recommended discontinuing vaccinations.
State epidemiologist Erica Pan recommended on Sunday that healthcare providers discontinue dosing in batch 041L20A while the state is investigating a “higher than usual number of possible allergic reactions” that have been reported with doses that have been administered at a community vaccination clinic.
Pan said at the time that the California, Modern, Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are all investigating.
One statement on Tuesday, Moderna said it “admits that it received a report from the California Department of Public Health (CDPH), several people at a vaccination center in San Diego were treated for possible allergic reactions after vaccination” in the batch.
The company said it was not aware of “comparable groups” of adverse events in other vaccination centers that could have administered doses from the same batches.
“This investigation is still ongoing and Moderna is working closely with the FDA and CDC to understand the clinical cases and whether the long break in batch use is justified,” the company said.
The company did not specify exactly how many people reported side effects on Sunday. However, The Associated Press previously reported that six San Diego health workers had allergic reactions to the vaccines they received at a vaccination center on Thursday.
An FDA spokesman told The Hill in a statement that the agency is “aware of a situation in California where multiple potential adverse events have been reported after vaccination with a specific batch of Modern Vaccine (Modern Batch 041L20A) at a community vaccination clinic. We work closely with the CDC, the California Department of Public Health, and Modern to investigate these potential adverse events. ”
At this time the CDC and FDA do not recommend health departments to discontinue the administration of this batch or any batch of Modern COVID-19 vaccine, Hunt said.
Hill contacted the CDC for comments.
A total of 1,272,000 doses were produced in batches, of which 964,900 have already been distributed in 37 states, Moderna said. CDPH said it received 330,000 doses from the batch that were distributed to 287 suppliers.
Updated at 5:04 p.m.