The San Luis Obispo Department of Public Health says concerns about a lot of Modern COVID-19 vaccines could cause a temporary setback in the distribution of secondary doses.
County health officials say they are following state instructions and have stopped administering the vaccine in question after reports of possible allergic reactions in several people; however, the state will not immediately replace these doses and this could delay some people from receiving the second blow.
San Luis Obispo County reportedly received 4,400 doses of Moderna Lot 041L20A vaccine. None were administered.
Health officials say the delay will not affect the first meeting with the vaccination and that receiving the second dose a few weeks later than expected will not be harmful.
Those waiting for the second dose will receive a text or e-mail from the county when it becomes available.
CDC, FDA, Moderna and the state of California are investigating after some people reported side effects after receiving the specific batch of vaccine.
Last week, at a vaccination super-station set up in Petco Park in San Diego, six health workers had allergic reactions and the site was temporarily closed.
California Department of Public Health officials say that as of January 5-12, more than 330,000 doses from the specific Moderna batch were distributed to 287 California providers.
The Santa Barbara County Department of Public Health says it also received some of the Moderna Lot 041L20A vaccine, but none have been administered yet.
Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, an infectious disease expert at UC San Francisco, says reports should not discourage others from receiving the vaccine, and if you haven’t had reactions to vaccines in the past, you probably won’t have them with the COVID vaccine. 19.
“The risk is so low of having a severe allergic reaction, especially someone who has had a history of it,” said Dr. Chin-Hong. “It’s minute compared to the risk of just having COVID-19.”
The CDC says frequent vaccine side effects are expected and may include pain or swelling at the injection site, fever, chills, fatigue and headache.