Japan suspends 1.6 million Moderna doses over contamination fears

A vaccination distributor, Takeda Pharmaceutical said Moderna had suspended three batches ‘out of an abundance of caution’.

There was a problem in Spain where the vaccination was being manufactured, said Moderna.

It continued, "To date, no safety or efficacy issues have been identified’’, adding that it will investigate the issue further by working with officials and Takeda.

According to reports, the officials have declared that ‘foreign materials’ were discovered in some doses.

The Japanese Pharmaceutical country did not elaborate on what the ‘foreign objects’ were, concluding it a particulate matter which was dealt with an emergency examination.

Seven other vaccination centers have also reported news of contamination with almost 39 vials, according to a Japanese newspaper. The officials had made the batch numbers public so that people could tally whether the shot they received, before the suspension, had been contaminated or not, the newspaper gave further details.

Japan is fighting against a flood of COVID-19 cases as eight more areas were declared to be in a state of emergency on Wednesday.  

Tokyo, the country’s metropolitan city is hosting the Paralympic Games at the moment.

Japan approved the usage of Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines already, Moderna started to be administered in May.

About 40% of Japan’s population is completely vaccinated and almost 50% has had one dose.

 COURTESY: BBC