Out of an abundance of caution, Santa Cruz County is slowing down their vaccination process after learning Moderna’s newest COVID-19 vaccine, Lot 41L20A, has caused allergic reactions to less than 10 people in Southern California.“Anaphylactic shock refers to a drop in blood pressure due to an allergic reaction. Most of us think of it in terms of like a bee sting if you’re allergic to bee stings, you can go into shock,” explained David Ghilarducci M.D., Deputy Health Officer for Santa Cruz County. “But again, that reaction is pretty rare. It’s one in 100,000 from the trials that we’ve seen. I don’t want people to be too worried about that. If it does happen, it’s easily treated.”Ghilarducci explained Santa Cruz County has received 5,300 doses of the lot and has not given any of the vaccines to anyone; while Dominican Hospital has given out doses from the disputed lot to the public. “Dominican Hospital has not documented any significant reactions during our COVID-19 vaccine distribution, including the doses of Moderna lot 41L20A we have administered,” the hospital said in a statement. “That said, in accordance with the guidance from CDPH, we have paused all administration of Moderna vaccines from that lot indefinitely.”While Watsonville Community Hospital has neither received nor administered this dose of Moderna. In the meantime, the county will be storing these doses in question until the state can figure out what is causing the uptick in adverse reactions. However, Ghilarducci expressed people should not be afraid to get vaccinated.“It’s super important. We can treat those very rare cases of anaphylactic shock or allergic reactions, but when it comes to COVID, we have almost no treatments for that,” said Ghilarducci. “So, it’s very important to get vaccinated as soon as you can.”Adding if you have already received this vaccine, you are fine. Ghilarducci said there are no long-term risks and if you were to have a reaction, it would have happened within the first 15 to 30 minutes of getting the shot.Action News 8 also checked in with other counties on the Central Coast to see where the allotment of this Moderna vaccine batch stands.In San Benito County, the San Benito County Health Foundation received 300 doses of the vaccine and has administered 250 doses. The San Benito County Health Department received 400 doses and has only administered 100. No allergic reactions were reported.Checking in with Monterey County, Action News 8 was told the county does not know how many of these doses were shipped to the county, nor how many were administered and suggested we check in with local hospitals.The Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula, CHOMP, has received 2,800 doses of the vaccine, administering 1,220 of them. Salinas Valley Memorial Hospital, SVMH, got 1,400 doses and administered none of them. It’s unclear how many doses Natividad Hospital received but said they have not given any shots of this lot to the public. Mee Memorial Hospital refused to comment.
SANTA CRUZ COUNTY, Calif. —
Out of an abundance of caution, Santa Cruz County is slowing down their vaccination process after learning Moderna’s newest COVID-19 vaccine, Lot 41L20A, has caused allergic reactions to less than 10 people in Southern California.
“Anaphylactic shock refers to a drop in blood pressure due to an allergic reaction. Most of us think of it in terms of like a bee sting if you’re allergic to bee stings, you can go into shock,” explained David Ghilarducci M.D., Deputy Health Officer for Santa Cruz County. “But again, that reaction is pretty rare. It’s one in 100,000 from the trials that we’ve seen. I don’t want people to be too worried about that. If it does happen, it’s easily treated.”
Ghilarducci explained Santa Cruz County has received 5,300 doses of the lot and has not given any of the vaccines to anyone; while Dominican Hospital has given out doses from the disputed lot to the public.
“Dominican Hospital has not documented any significant reactions during our COVID-19 vaccine distribution, including the doses of Moderna lot 41L20A we have administered,” the hospital said in a statement. “That said, in accordance with the guidance from CDPH, we have paused all administration of Moderna vaccines from that lot indefinitely.”
While Watsonville Community Hospital has neither received nor administered this dose of Moderna. In the meantime, the county will be storing these doses in question until the state can figure out what is causing the uptick in adverse reactions. However, Ghilarducci expressed people should not be afraid to get vaccinated.
“It’s super important. We can treat those very rare cases of anaphylactic shock or allergic reactions, but when it comes to COVID, we have almost no treatments for that,” said Ghilarducci. “So, it’s very important to get vaccinated as soon as you can.”
Adding if you have already received this vaccine, you are fine. Ghilarducci said there are no long-term risks and if you were to have a reaction, it would have happened within the first 15 to 30 minutes of getting the shot.
Action News 8 also checked in with other counties on the Central Coast to see where the allotment of this Moderna vaccine batch stands.
In San Benito County, the San Benito County Health Foundation received 300 doses of the vaccine and has administered 250 doses. The San Benito County Health Department received 400 doses and has only administered 100. No allergic reactions were reported.
Checking in with Monterey County, Action News 8 was told the county does not know how many of these doses were shipped to the county, nor how many were administered and suggested we check in with local hospitals.
The Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula, CHOMP, has received 2,800 doses of the vaccine, administering 1,220 of them. Salinas Valley Memorial Hospital, SVMH, got 1,400 doses and administered none of them. It’s unclear how many doses Natividad Hospital received but said they have not given any shots of this lot to the public. Mee Memorial Hospital refused to comment.