Just a week after Japan suspended the use of roughly 1.63 million Moderna Covid-19 vaccine doses due to contamination, another batch has been put on hold after a foreign substance was found in a vial. The foreign substance was detected by a pharmacist in the Kanagawa Prefecture, according to authorities. Around 3,790 individuals had already received shots from the batch. The pharmacist reported floating black particles during a routine check for substances before the vaccine’s use. Moderna’s domestic distributor has collected the vial that is suspected to be contaminated.
There is no evidence so far that leads officials to believe that there are health hazards caused by the potentially contaminated vaccine. Takeda Pharmaceutical, which distributed the vaccine in Japan, stated that they had uncovered foreign materials in some doses of a batch of 560,000 vials. The batches were put on hold. Rovi, a Spanish pharmaceutical firm that bottles the vaccine, came forth and stated that a manufacturing line in Spain could be at the root of the issue, noting that it would launch an investigation into the issue. However, Japan’s health minister claimed on Tuesday that the foreign matter was due to administering failure and needles being incorrectly inserted into vials.