COVID-19 Vaccination 'Pause' Includes Northern California

SFGate reported 'at least two other counties in the northern California Bay Area had received doses from the lot of experimental Moderna COVID-19 vaccines, which local epidemiologists had advised against using on January 17, 2021. Dr. Erica S. Pan issued a statement recommending California providers pause the administration of lot 41L20A of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine due to possible allergic reactions under investigation.

Certain people appeared to be experiencing a possible severe allergic reaction during the standard observation period, a type of adverse event that the U.S. CDC reports some people have experienced when receiving a COVID-19 vaccine.

While no vaccine or medical procedure is without risk, the risk of a serious adverse reaction is minimal. While fewer data exist on the mRNA-based Moderna COVID-19 vaccine's adverse reactions, a similar vaccine shows that the expected rate of anaphylaxis is approximately 1 in 100,000, stated Dr. Pan's press statement.

Contra Costa, Santa Clara, and Marin Counties all received these Moderna vaccines. Marin is reported to be the only county to have distributed all of the doses. Contra Costa country has dispensed 600 vaccines, while Santa Clara has used none.

A recent ABC7 analysis found about 1.9 million vaccine doses are waiting in freezers across the state of California as of January 19th.

As of January 15th, the CDC reported 12,279,180 COVID-19 vaccinations had been completed in the USA.