Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
CDC Says Anaphylaxis After Covid Vaccines Is 'Rare Event'
Stat: CDC Reports Rare Allergic Reactions To Moderna's Covid-19 Vaccine
The Moderna Covid-19 vaccine, like the one made by Pfizer and BioNTech, appears to induce rare anaphylactic reactions in a small number of people who receive the vaccine, new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggest. As of Jan. 19, there have been 15 confirmed cases of anaphylaxis after receipt of Moderna’s vaccine and 45 confirmed cases of anaphylaxis after receipt of the Pfizer vaccine, the CDC said in a statement to STAT. (Branswell, 1/22)
Los Angeles Times: Severe Allergic Reactions To Moderna Vaccine Are Rare, CDC Says
The COVID-19 vaccine developed by Moderna and the National Institutes of Health caused very few cases of severe allergic reactions during the first three weeks of its administration across the country, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Among 4,041,396 doses given over 21 days, a total of 10 cases of anaphylaxis were confirmed by CDC investigators. Another four cases of possible anaphylaxis are still being investigated. No deaths have been tied to the vaccine. “Based on this early monitoring, anaphylaxis after receipt of Moderna COVID-19 vaccine appears to be a rare event,” the researchers wrote Friday in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. (Kaplan, 1/24)
The Wall Street Journal: California Authorities Probe Death Of Person Who Received Covid-19 Vaccine Hours Earlier
California authorities are investigating the case of a person who died several hours after receiving a Covid-19 vaccine last week. The Placer County Sheriff’s Office and Placer County Public Health department were recently notified of the vaccination and death, which happened Thursday, according to a statement posted to Facebook by the sheriff’s office. It isn’t clear which vaccine the person received or whether the vaccine played a role in their death. (Toy, 1/24)
More on vaccine development —
Southern California News Group: Dozens Of New COVID Vaccines Working Their Way To Public
Move over, Pfizer and Moderna. You won’t be the only games in town too much longer. COVID-19 has existed for barely more than a year, but 64 vaccines are in clinical development and another 173 in preclinical development worldwide nonetheless, according to the World Health Organization. Dozens of hopefuls are in clinical trials in the U.S., including several by California researchers. But the two inching closest to the finish line here — by Oxford-AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson — could win emergency use authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as soon as this spring, which would instantly increase supply and deliver a much-needed jolt to the nation’s maddeningly sluggish mass vaccination campaign. (Sforza, 1/24)
KHN: Vaccine Ramp-Up Squeezes Covid Testing And Tracing
California Gov. Gavin Newsom, under growing pressure to jump-start a faltering covid-19 vaccine rollout, jetted to Los Angeles on Jan. 15 to unveil a massive new vaccination site at Dodger Stadium that is expected eventually to inoculate 12,000 people a day. The city-run venue had been the biggest covid testing site in the U.S., administering over 1 million tests in its nearly eight months of operation — and over 10,000 a day during the recent surge. Its redeployment to the cause of vaccination, Newsom declared, provides “an extraordinary world-class site for a world-class logistics operation.” (Wolfson, 1/25)
