Public Health Addresses COVID-19 Vaccination Concerns and Case Increases
By edhat staff
Santa Barbara County Public Health Department (PHD) officials addressed concerns regarding the Moderna vaccine and increasing cases of COVID-19.
California State Epidemiologist Dr. Erica S. Pan issued a statement on Sunday recommending providers pause the administration of lot 41L20A of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine due to possible allergic reactions that are under investigation.
"Our goal is to provide the COVID vaccine safely, swiftly and equitably," said Dr. Pan. "A higher-than-usual number of possible allergic reactions were reported with a specific lot of Moderna vaccine administered at one community vaccination clinic. Fewer than 10 individuals required medical attention over the span of 24 hours. Out of an extreme abundance of caution and also recognizing the extremely limited supply of vaccine, we are recommending that providers use other available vaccine inventory and pause the administration of vaccines from Moderna Lot 041L20A until the investigation by the [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)] and [U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)], Moderna and the state is complete. We will provide an update as we learn more."
PHD Deputy Director Paige Batson stated just six out of 330,000 Moderna doses distributed to 287 providers across the state resulted in allergic reactions that did not require hospitalization.
The shipments arrived in California between Jan. 5 and 12 and the state has not been notified of any other cluster or individual events related to this lot.
Batson stated she anticipates the state will clear this lot of the vaccine as the allergic reaction incidents were only linked to one distribution site in Southern California so there's potential it may be something else besides the vaccine.
The state maintains the risk of a serious adverse reaction is very small. While less data exists on adverse reactions related to the Moderna vaccine, a similar vaccine shows that the expected rate of anaphylaxis is approximately 1 in 100,000.
The manufacturer, CDC, and the FDA are reviewing the lot and related medical information.
PHD Director Dr. Van Do-Reynoso stated COVID-19 testing positivity remains at 16% with a substantial rise in cases in the past week proving the virus continues to spread.
The department is expecting an increase in reported outbreaks in the workplace due to a new state law requiring reports of three or more positive cases within two weeks. During the first week of January there were 15 reported outbreaks in working environments and 14 outbreaks in congregate settings.
From January 9-15, the majority of infections were due to gatherings with 75% of those who attended a gathering were with family and friends.
On Tuesday, PHD reported 342 new cases and five additional deaths. Three individuals were over 70 years of age with underlying health conditions, and two individuals were 50-69 years of age. Three of the deaths are associated with outbreaks at congregate care facilities. Two individuals resided in Santa Barbara, two were from Santa Maria, and one resided in Goleta.
There are currently 2,465 active cases that include 205 hospitalizations with 49 of those in the intensive care unit (ICU). The county's ICU availability remains at 0%.
More details can be found at https://publichealthsbc.org.
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Jan 19, 2021 08:03 PMIt seems noteworthy that 49 people in the ICU represents 8 less people in the ICU than were In the ICU last week...
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Jan 20, 2021 07:27 AMHow do you get downvoted for pointing out that 8 less people are in the ICU? There is no angle or slant there... it’s literally just looking at the numbers and relaying that seemingly notable point that for the some reason the article forgot to make note of? I usually don’t care about downvotes, but considering how the moderator deleted pretty much any and every comment yesterday... It’s odd...
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Jan 20, 2021 07:43 AMPeople will downvote you automatically because they don't like your viewpoints in general. But if you have graduated junior high, it shouldn't matter that much to you. When EH used to get rid of posts with excessive downvotes, it used to matter. But I haven't seen that happen in a while.
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Jan 20, 2021 09:42 AMDUKE - This would be GREAT news if the numbers are even slightly starting to go down! With rumors of schools being closed the rest of the school year, this would be a welcome sight! We need these numbers to stop climbing!
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Jan 20, 2021 09:42 AMAlso, case rate finally dropping. My spreadsheet uses "reporting date", but the PHD website uses "Episode date", meaning case rate has been dropping even longer (maybe almost a week?) Let's hope the trend continues. The constant increase was not good for my blood pressure.
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Jan 20, 2021 10:49 AMHi Duke, Probably, sadly the reason there are less in the ICU are due to the many who are passing away from this deadly disease. That may be a reason for down votes.
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Jan 20, 2021 10:59 AMWait that doesn't make any sense...you are basically saying that it's a bad sign that there are less people in the hospital and the ICU? What??!!?
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Jan 20, 2021 11:08 AMThe ICU numbers going down is a good thing...there is no way to twist that into a bad thing.
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Jan 20, 2021 11:12 AMUnfortunately, the numbers that are being thrown out regarding deaths are a little misleading. As far as yesterdays report of 5 new deaths - one was from the week ending Jan 3, and four were from the week ending Jan 10. So the drop in ICU numbers is not really indicative of people dying.
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Jan 20, 2021 11:47 AM@Mountain, this is why public health calculates weekly deaths and not daily. But there will be a lag regardless due to coroner processing.
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Jan 20, 2021 11:48 AM@PDW, the ICU rate might be slowly going down but hospitalizations are going up. When hospitalizations increase they are followed by ICU increases and deaths.
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Jan 20, 2021 12:21 PMCalm down PDW. I didn't say it was a bad thing. Was just replying to Dukes down vote question, and how some may have perceived his comment.
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Jan 19, 2021 09:21 PM' extreme abundance of caution' says it all. Public Health folks may be proficient in their normal duties, but aren't cut out to be general mangers, or relied upon to provide rationale cost-benefit judgments. Unfortunately, most of their political bosses are likewise deficient in managing with common sense. Ergo, the mess we have with vaccine deployment. The military, including the NG, could have provided a much more organized and disciplined process.
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Jan 20, 2021 06:56 AMVery true
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Jan 20, 2021 08:05 AMBizarre that people could downvote this comment; twice nonetheless. I completely agree. It is crazy that anyone thought local public health departments would be well-equipped to handle a response to a global pandemic.
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Jan 20, 2021 08:33 AMSBTowning, it isn't the public health departments, they're mainly providing input for the county supervisors, they're the ones have shown they're not equipped to lead a response. And of course our governor, who in the face of an out of control spread, doubles down on exactly what wasn't working to control the spread. Compliance to recommendations that go outside the governments control (like limiting who you can see in your private home) has to be voluntary, and when it's forced on a population you'll automatically get less voluntary compliance. To get this voluntary compliance requires true leadership, not threats and tougher mandates, something our governor hasn't shown thus the spiking cases and growing recall movement. It isn't Spring 2020, other states have shown there is a different way that does at least as good (if not better) combating covid without the economic destruction (which has real life health and wellness consequences) and governmental overreach.
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Jan 20, 2021 08:12 AMI'm really not worried that one batch of a miraculous vaccine MAY have caused 3 more people than "typical" to develop treatable allergic reactions. I am FAR more concerned about why no one from the top down is being transparent anymore about shipment numbers, why the Trump administration apparently lied about a vaccine reserve, why our governor is on Twitter interacting with other governors all admitting they have no idea when and how much vaccine we'll be getting neck, why our local public health department until a few days ago was only ordering 68% of the vaccine we're allocated by the state, why we are not vaccinating 65+ when many other counties including LA and Orange County are doing so, why we have no plans offered yet for public peace of mind that explain how the county plans to roll out the vaccine to the public once we do get more doses (Earl Warren drive through, etc.), why we have one of the most complicated and longest enrollment forms I've seen for signing up (nearby counties literally ask you only 3 questions to determine eligibility for vaccination, while SB asks you about 75), why we are obsessively focusing on making sure not one single dose goes to someone who "doesn't deserve it" when - after we've dealt with frontline medical professionals and those in nursing homes - anyone who wants it is someone who deserves it, why we are wasting time tiering people by being overly precious in our designations of "worth" under the guise of "equity," why we are apparently going to vaccinate rapists and murderers before hardworking, honest people who need to go to work every day (vaccinate the prison staff, sure), and so on. These are just SOME of my concerns that FAR outweigh any fear I have about the vaccine. We need transparency and we need it now.
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Jan 20, 2021 01:27 PMA very sad part of the SBPHD roll out of the vaccine questionnaire, besides its' impossibility for the seniors without computers or smart phones to access, and the length mentioned here, was that after being invited to sign up, at the end there were no appointments available. I tried to help an 80plus year old with the form, and then nothing. They later said the application would have to be done all over again. WTF
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Jan 20, 2021 01:29 PMAbsolutely absurd and insulting to our citizens. I wonder if there is a way to connect seniors with younger people who can help register them for appointments? I would love to be a part of that if it's needed. Anyone have thoughts?
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Jan 21, 2021 08:06 AManswering 75 questions b4 discovering a complete DO OVER IS REQUIRED when no appointments are available is completely a F you from public health. Get it right or get someone with a few brain cells to implement this.
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Jan 20, 2021 09:19 AMIt is very hard to determine who should get the vaccine next. Doing it my oldest first makes a lot of sense as people over 65 are the majority of the cases that end up in the hospital.
What doesn't make sense is opening a limited number of appointments and those that can be very fast on the computer get them. Everyone in a group (like 75 and older) should be able to sign up and the appoints should be given out in order -- oldest first.
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Jan 20, 2021 10:08 AMI am concerned about the elderly people who aren’t computer savvy and can’t navigate the online sign-ups. Not everyone has people to help them.