California Calls for Pause on Use of Batch of Moderna COVID-19 Vaccines

Higher-than-usual number of possible allergic reactions were reported

Mass-vaccination of health care workers against COVID-19 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, on Jan. 15, 2021. Irfan Khan/Pool via Reuters

California officials directed COVID-19 vaccine providers on Jan. 17 not to administer any doses from a batch of more than 330,000 that was circulated across the state.

The reason was a “higher-than-usual number of possible allergic reactions,” California State Epidemiologist Dr. Erica Pan said in a statement.