Japan halts use of 1.63 mil. Moderna vaccine doses over contamination

Japan's health ministry said Thursday it has received reports from multiple mass vaccination centers in the country that some portion of the unused doses of Moderna Inc.'s COVID-19 vaccine have been found to contain foreign materials.

Japanese drugmaker Takeda Pharmaceutical Co., which is in charge of sales and distribution of the Moderna vaccine in Japan, said it is suspending the use of 1.63 million doses as a precaution.

Takeda had requested an emergency probe by the U.S. biotechnology firm, while urging medical institutions and other entities not to use any doses of the vaccine showing abnormality, even for doses not subject to the suspension.

The Japanese company added it will make efforts to prevent the suspension from affecting the availability of coronavirus vaccine doses in the country.

Over 10 million doses have already been used in the country since the Moderna vaccine was approved for emergency use in May, according to the government.

The Japanese government signed a contract with Moderna to receive 50 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine by the end of September.

The vaccine uses a new technology called messenger RNA, or mRNA, and is administered in two doses given four weeks apart.
 

https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2021/08/7fb949bf9198-urgent-unused-moderna-vaccine-doses-may-contain-foreign-materials-japan.html