Pursuant to State Direction
“Pause” in Administration of Vaccine Doses Lifted Following Rigorous Review
Santa Clara County, CA – Following rigorous review by safety regulators, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) issued a statement last night advising vaccine providers in California “that they can immediately resume the administration of lot 41L20A of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine, which was temporarily paused on Sunday due to possible allergic reactions.” CDPH officials convened the Western States Scientific Safety Review Workgroup and worked with the CDC, FDA, the County of San Diego Department of Public Health, and Moderna to investigate the possible allergic reactions, which had been reported in San Diego County. The regulators and public health officials determined that there was no scientific basis to continue the pause on administering doses from this particular lot of Moderna vaccine.
County of Santa Clara officials have communicated this development to the local healthcare systems that had received the 21,800 doses from this lot of vaccine in Santa Clara County: Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, El Camino Health, and Stanford Health Care.
“These findings confirm that the systems put in place to ensure vaccine safety are working just as they should,” said Dr. Sara Cody, Health Officer and Director of Public Health for the County of Santa Clara. “This latest rigorous, scientific review of possible allergic reactions once again confirmed that the vaccine is safe. This frees up nearly 22,000 doses of much-needed vaccine for residents of our county. People in Santa Clara County can feel confident that vaccinating our community against COVID-19 will save lives and serve as our path out of the pandemic.”
The COVID-19 vaccines authorized for use in the United States have been rigorously tested for safety and efficacy. Built-in safeguards, including the reporting of possible adverse events, are designed to ensure additional levels of protection for the public.
The County’s website at sccfreevax.org provides updated information about vaccine eligibility, availability, and distribution in Santa Clara County. Healthcare systems throughout the county are rapidly scaling their capacity to administer vaccines to the public, but this expansion is dependent on the supply of available vaccines. The County will continue to provide the public with regular updates regarding the availability and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines.
