Moderna said Tuesday that it is investigating reported allergic reactions from one batch of its COVID-19 vaccine after California recommended pausing vaccinations.
State epidemiologist Erica Pan recommended on Sunday that health care providers pause administering doses from lot 041L20A while the state investigates a “higher-than-usual number of possible allergic reactions” that were reported with doses that were administered at a community vaccination clinic.
Pan said at the time that California, Moderna, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are all investigating.
In a statement on Tuesday, Moderna said it “acknowledges receiving a report from the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) several individuals at one vaccination center in San Diego were treated for possible allergic reactions after vaccination” from the lot.
The company said it’s unaware of “comparable clusters” of adverse events from other vaccination centers that may have administered doses from the same lots.
“This investigation is still ongoing and Moderna is working closely with FDA and CDC to understand the clinical cases and whether the broad pause in use of the lot is warranted,” the company said.
The company did not specify on Sunday exactly how many people reported adverse reactions. However, The Associated Press previously reported that six health care workers in San Diego had allergic reactions to vaccines they received at a vaccination center on Thursday.
A spokesperson for the FDA told The Hill in a statement that the agency is “aware of a situation in California in which multiple potential adverse events were reported after vaccination with a specific lot of Moderna vaccine (Moderna Lot 041L20A) at one community vaccination clinic. We are working closely with the CDC, California Department of Public Health, and Moderna to investigate these potential adverse events.”
“At this time CDC and FDA do not recommend health departments stop administering this lot or any lots of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine,” Hunt said.
The Hill has reached out to the CDC for comment.
A total of 1,272,000 doses were produced in the batch, of which 964,900 have already been distributed across 37 states, Moderna said. The CDPH said it received 330,000 doses from the batch that were distributed to 287 providers.
Updated at 5:04 p.m.