Allergic reactions in some Moderna vaccine recipients caused delays Wednesday in San Diego County’s new “Super Vaccination Station,” near downtown Petco Park, county health officials confirmed.
Just after 11 a.m., NBC 7 confirmed that some people waiting for their shots at the Tailgate Park site were suffering from delays. Others said they had been sidelined.
NBC 7 contacted those who ran the station; a representative said the delay lasted about an hour due to logistical problems related to more doses of the vaccine arriving at the site.
During the county’s COVID-19 weekly session, Dr. Eric McDonald, the county’s director of epidemiology, said vaccinations slowed after detecting allergic reactions at six vaccine recipients.
Although allergic reactions are expected in mass vaccination operations, this amount seen on Wednesday was slightly higher than expected for this period of time, so the Super Station halted vaccinations so they could investigate, he said. say Dr. McDonald. The site also changed the vaccines it used for a new batch as a great precaution, in case the reactions had to do with the original batch.
A county spokesman confirmed that the vaccines associated with allergic reactions came from Moderna, one of two pharmaceutical companies with FDA-approved COVID-19 vaccines.
The Super Station has contingencies for any kind of reaction. It is too early in the investigation to know exactly what caused the allergic reactions, Dr. McDonald said.
Board of Supervisors Chairman Nathan Fletcher said the site would continue to administer vaccines on Wednesday and would remain open late to meet all appointments.
The county’s new “Super Vaccination Station” is already in operation in Tailgate Park, where UCSD Health staff will administer thousands of vaccines daily to health workers.
The location is a partnership between County, Padres and UC San Diego Health in an effort to quickly deploy the coronavirus vaccine and administer as many shots as possible to eligible residents.
The site was launched with the goal of immunizing 5,000 health care workers daily, with the goal of administering the coronavirus vaccine to those who are considered to be in phase 1A-Tier of the vaccine priority list. of the state.
Healthcare professionals at dialysis centers, primary health clinics, dental centers and more can now receive the coronavirus vaccine. UC San Diego Health employees will administer the vaccines at the new Super Station.
SkyRanger 7 gives us a glimpse of the new “Super Station” vaccine that was opened near Petco Park on January 11, 2021, with the goal of immunizing 5,000 health workers daily who are part of phase 1A level of the county.
The new site includes 42 tents, including four tents. The goal of its opening day was to vaccinate 2,500 health workers.
Officials hoped to increase that number to at least 5,000 health workers a day and ultimately vaccinate 500,000 health workers across the region.
Fletcher said the Super Station would continue to work by vaccinating health workers. In the future, Fletcher hopes the site can expand vaccines to residents over 65.
“We haven’t finished our healthcare workers and will continue to work,” Fletcher said.
Denise Foster, San Diego County’s director of nursing, said Monday the site expects to receive an initial shipment of more than 50,000 doses.
A “large portion” of the doses would be the Modern vaccine, Foster said, while the rest were the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.
The San Diego Super Vaccination Station is part of a larger trend happening in California, as counties try to increase vaccination efforts as COVID-19 cases continue to rise.
California is transforming baseball stadiums, fairgrounds and even a parking lot at Disneyland Resort in Orange County into mass vaccination sites.