400 doses of flagged vaccine batch given in Mendocino County,
County Public Health reports batch could cause allergic reaction
UKIAH » California county public health departments were notified Monday evening that the use of a specific lot of the Moderna vaccine was should be “paused,” after recipients at a San Diego County Moderna vaccination event experienced allergic reactions.
The batch lot in question was used at a mass vaccination event in San Diego, where six healthcare workers experienced allergic reactions to the Moderna vaccine. Dr. Erica S. Pan, the State of California’s lead epidemiologist, notified counties Sunday, Jan. 18 and said that no other suspect batch lots have been identified.
“The county has reviewed the lot numbers administered through our mass vaccination clinics as well as the inventory stored in our freezer,” said Mendocino County Vaccine Coordinator Adrienne Thompson. “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 Jan. 7.”
An additional 300 doses from the same batch were given out at an event for seniors by Adventist Health in Willits.
The county originally reported that the batch lot in question was not used, but later amended their statement Monday evening. No adverse reactions have been reported from the vaccines used at the Redwood Empire Fairgrounds or at the Adventist Health event.
“County staff will be contacting all 100 individuals that received a vaccine with this lot number to alert them of the recall,” and no other side effects have been noted from the use of this vaccine, Thompson said. It is expected that Adventist Helath will reach out to the 300 at their event.
Mendocino County Public Health Officer Dr. Andrew Coren said that because these are new vaccines, events such as this are not unexpected, and 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. 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,” he concludes.
Mendocino County Public Health pointed out in their press releast that it is responsible only for vaccine allotments distributed by the State to Public Health. “The state separately allocates and distributes vaccine allotments to Adventist Health, to pharmacies and to Indian Health Clinics. It is up to those healthcare entities to administer, track and report all vaccine data to the state,” said the release.
“Mendocino County does not have access to their vaccine information or their lot numbers,” said Thompson.
“However, these other vaccine providers are continuing to review their Moderna inventory to compare their lot numbers against the state-identified batch in question.”
The county’s website, Facebook and Twitter pages are the best way to keep updated about vaccinations and all issues related to Covid-19. For specific vaccinerelated questions, please phone Mendocino County’s vaccination hotline at (707) 472-2663 or email DOC-vaccine@mendocinocounty.org.