CA lifts warning on batch of 330K vaccine doses

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The state has now lifted its warning on a batch of 330,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine.

California State Epidemiologist Dr. Erica Pan announced Monday that a state board, along with allergy and immunology experts, reviewed the batch and "found no scientific basis to continue the pause."

This comes after Dr. Pan notified healthcare providers Saturday to avoid dispensing doses from the batch "out of an abundance of caution" after a clinic in San Diego saw a higher than expected number of allergic reactions.

"Our highest priorities are to ensure that vaccines are safe and effective, and distributed equitably and efficiently," said Dr. Pan. "These findings should continue to give Californians confidence that vaccines are safe and effective, and that the systems put in place to ensure vaccine safety are rigorous and science-based."

Counties including San Francisco and Marin are expected to resume use Thursday, which will temporarily help alleviate worries about a vaccine shortage.

But the state is warning it could take until June just to inoculate the millions of Californians age 65 and older at the current pace.

That's based on the current shortage brought about when it was revealed that the Trump administration had already burned through the federal stockpile.

UCSF epidemiologist Dr. George Rutherford says he is hopeful that the Biden administration will be able to increase the supply.

"At least there’s a plan and at least there’s intent. I don’t think there was a mal-intent in the prior administration, but here you know, this is what this guy’s looking at every morning, this is at the top of his briefing. He’s going to say turn up the spigot and let’s make more."

Currently, California is receiving about 300,000 and 500,000 doses each week.

But there is also the issue of untangling the bottleneck in getting vaccine doses from delivery points to injection sites.

California has now delivered at least the initial dose of vaccine to 1.5 million people, more than any other state. But the state lags behind most of the nation when it comes to the percentage of the population that has gotten a shot.

CDC data shows 3.2% of Californians have gotten at least one shot and only 0.7% have received both doses.

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